Gang Welfare
by spikestrife
Summary: AU, CloTi. Presumed dead, Tifa Lockhart seeks safety in the hands of Spike, the leader of the Maria Racers. Gangs, guns and racing, all part of her new life as she seeks out revenge for her father's death.
1. My Story

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Prologue:** My Story

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy VII except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - Hey everyone. Looks like I'm back with another fic. This one is really only a side project that I will be working on while I play San Andreas, so it may be a while between updates. I'm rating this fic 'R' because of the violence, language, adult scenes and drug content in this. I hope that ain't too extreme for you. If it ain't, hope you like this fic.

* * *

_My life is a bit like a roller coaster. Just as soon as I thought I was rising up to the top, I'd take a steep plunge back down to the low-level. I just can't believe how it all started. The way in which I ended up in the ownership of the most reckless gang in Los Santos is crazy enough. What's remarkable is… that I'm actually still alive._

_My story probably wouldn't be exciting to any gangster, as they each go through the same thing everyday. Well… pretty close to it anyway._

_I didn't start as a gangster… oh no… I despised them back when I lived the high life. Big mansion, fine clothes, and home schooling were some of the pleasures I was able to experience. Money came rolling in by the ton each day, with my father being a very important government official. My mother was caring person, and I idolised her for that. I've lost my idol now that she's gone._

_I hated the fact of being a gangster when I first came to the streets. I had always viewed them as spineless, heartless, disease-ridden killers who probably couldn't spell their own name because of the way the skived school everyday. Truthfully… I was very surprised to find that some of them were not only quite intelligent, but they were very wise and courageous. It's thanks to those some… that I'm here to tell you this now._

* * *

It was nightfall, the most dangerous time to be on the streets in Los Santos. The usual sounds of gunfire and loud music could be heard from a distance, and an uneasy atmosphere filled the near-empty streets. It was the same every night. People would cautiously keep turning round to make sure they weren't going to be mugged, and gang members carried guns in their jackets, being wary of a possible drive-by. It was an ordinary night in this town.

Tifa Lockhart sighed as she stared out the window, dressed in a small violet chemise. She watched the streets as a young couple walked by her mansion, their arms locked and the girl's head lying on her boyfriends shoulder. Tifa sighed again and climbed back into the comfort of her bed. She wrapped the silk sheets around her body and tried to block out the noise from outside.

She hated this place. The continuous sirens of the police, trying to catch the scum in the area, were driving her crazy. It was the same every night. She could barely sleep in these conditions. She often wondered what made gangsters become what they are. Was it pride? Or was it because they didn't have much choice? She honestly didn't care one way or the other, as long as they stayed out of her life.

As she shut her eyes, a blare of music from outside made her clamp her hands to her ears. She stood up angrily and walked to her window, planning to open it and scream to the people below.

But she didn't get the chance. She soon heard several bullet shots and the smashing of a window downstairs. She watched has five gangsters, each on a motorbike, pulled up outside her home. She couldn't see their faces because of how dark it was, but she could make out the bright red clothing they wore. She watched in horror as one of them pulled out, what looked like, a petrol bomb. He swiftly lit it and threw it into the smashed window.

Tifa screamed as she felt the floor shake angrily and a loud explosion came from the room below her. Several more explosions came from different areas of the house, and Tifa eventually felt tremendous heat being issued from downstairs. Realisation hit her like a speeding car. The house was burning down.

She quickly ran over to her dresser and hurriedly changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She started to choke from the smoke that was entering her room. She made for the door and opened it. But she instantly leapt back and screamed louder than before, as flames blasted through the hallway and scorched everything in its path. The smoke was beginning to make her drowsy and she soon collapsed from the intense heat of the flames.

* * *

As Tifa lay unconscious, another biker outside pulled up to her house. The man pulled of his helmet and gasped. Flames were bursting out of the windows and he was pretty sure that he had heard a scream from inside. He jumped of his motorcycle and dashed into the house.

As soon as he entered it, he shielded his eyes from the fire. The heat was incredible, and the thick loud of smoke quickly made him lose his breathe and start to choke. He squinted into each room, trying to find the person he was sure was still in here, but couldn't find any. He soon came to a set of stairs and clambered up them. He started forward but immediately recoiled as the roof started to collapse, barely missing him. He leapt over the pieces of fallen structure and continued his search

* * *

Tifa slowly opened her heavy eyes and took in her surroundings. According to her viewing angle, she was lying on her back. She heard someone shouting, but it was very distant. She could tell that it was masculine, and she prayed that it was someone who was going to help.

As she felt herself slipping out of consciousness again, she felt someone lift her up. The last thing she saw was a pair of shining blue eyes as the blackness took her.

* * *

This was very short and very rushed but it is only the prologue, main chapters will be bigger. So guys review and tell me what you think. If anyone can guess the mission I got this idea from in San Andreas, you can get a pat on the back :D

See Ya


	2. Meeting Again For The First Time

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter One:** Meeting Again For The First Time

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - Five reviews? YEAH! I'm super happy. Here's the first actual chapter of this fic and I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me point out that the cars in this chapter are real.

* * *

I had never been so terrified before in my life. The way that the smoke slowly choked me was a horrible experience.

_After I collapsed… I didn't remember much. Except those eyes. Those gorgeous blue eyes, which had looked at me with such emotion… fear, concern and determination. If I hadn't collapsed right after he picked me up, I would have fainted anyway. I didn't see much of his face… but his eyes stood out like white on black, blue on red. That's what it was… blue on red. His eyes against the flames. Wow…_

_The day after I was rescued was one of the strangest experiences for me. I was so confused, and angry, and… scared._

_I thought that they would kill me… but they didn't. But I still thought that it was only a matter of time._

* * *

Tifa slowly opened her stinging eyes from her slumber. She lay facing the wall so she carefully rolled onto her back. She took in her surroundings and found them surprising. She was a small bedroom, that only contained a double bed, which Tifa currently occupied, and a dresser with a mirror and CD player on top.

Tifa shakily stood up and wandered over to a nearby mirror. Her ruby eyes stared back at her from the mirror, as she looked herself over. She was still clad in her black boot-cut jeans and t-shirt, and her waist-length chocolate brown hair was still tied in its normal loose fashion. She was completely unharmed. Whoever had brought her here had done it to ensure her safety. For those few seconds that she consciously laid in her saviour's arms, she had had a sinking feeling that it had been one of the bikers responsible for her getting in the situation in the first place.

Her train of thought was broken as she jumped at the sound of the bedroom door opening.

In the doorway, stood a young man with shoulder-length black hair and a small blue bandana wrapped around his head. He was clad in a short-sleeved black shirt and tracksuit bottoms. Tifa backed away as he slowly entered the room, closing the door behind him. Tifa stepped back in fear when she saw a gun in his hand.

"I see that you're awake," the man said calmly. "You want somethin' to eat? We're makin' dinner right now."

Tifa was surprised. According to the bandana around his head, this guy was obviously a gangster. It was a trademark for them. But… he didn't act like one. Or at least…he didn't act how Tifa imagined them to act.

The man gave her a questioning look. "Well?"

Tifa snapped out of her daze and quietly answered, "Yeah, sure."

The man nodded and exited the room. Tifa just stood there, thinking.

'Is this guy one of the ones who destroyed my house? Or is he someone else? And can I trust him?'

Tifa shook her head. She might as well enjoy the hospitality while she could. She walked out of the room and took in her surroundings. There were to door-less rooms opposite her, and inside one of them, she could see two people talking. The man from before was there and he was chatting to a woman with chestnut hair.

Tifa quietly walked closer and listened to their conversation.

"… keep an eye on her. Spike wants to deal with her himself. We can take her to him later."

The woman nodded, and turned back to the meal she was preparing.

"But Spike's in San Fierro today. He's taking part in a street race tonight and he left about an hour ago."

"We'll take her there then. I'll go get the Mitsubishi and we'll set off."

With that the man turned round and walked out of the room. He glanced at Tifa for just a second before continuing to the front door. The woman quickly ran out of the kitchen entrance.

"Zack!" she called, throwing him, what looked like, the pistol he had carried earlier.

Zack turned just in time to catch it and he slipped it into his jacket.

"Thanks Aeris." He called before shutting the door.

Aeris turned to Tifa and smiled. "Glad to see you're awake. C'mon through, I'm making our dinner."

Tifa followed her cautiously, still not trusting either her or Zack. Aeris fiddled with a frying pan on the cooker before bringing it across to a round table, which had several plates on it. As she scooped the food onto the plates she spoke to Tifa.

"You want t change from those clothes?" Aeris asked, nodding at Tifa's outfit. Tifa shook he head and sat down. Aeris filled her plate before returning the pan to its place on the cooker. She then walked over to Tifa and held out her hand.

"I'm Aeris… Aeris Gainsborough." She said politely.

Tifa smiled and shook her hand. "Tifa Lockhart."

Aeris smiled and sat opposite Tifa. "Apparently you had quite the experience yesterday. Are you sure you're alright?"

Tifa nodded, and began to eat. "Yeah, I'm fine. A bit of a sore throat from the smoke but I'll live, thanks to the man who saved me."

"By the way… who is Spike?"

Aeris shook her head. "He's the leader of our gang… he took over the safety of Maria Racers after some incident in San Fierro. I'm not sure about the details."

"Spike… That's not his real name is it?" Tifa asked.

Aeris shook her head and continued eating. Tifa frowned at her for not answering her question.

"Well… what is his real name?"

Aeris suddenly looked at her sadly. "Sorry Tifa, but I can't tell you."

"Why?" Tifa asked, in a slightly insulted voice.

"Because we don't know if having you around is going to put our gang in jeopardy. Zack told me it was best not to say, in case you get captured by a rival gang and tell them Spike's real identity." She replied quietly, trying not to sound too offensive.

"Oh…" Tifa whispered, slightly embarrassed.

Aeris smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Tifa alone for several minutes. When she came back, she had changed out of her pink dress and was now wearing a short black skirt and a blood red strap top. Tifa took note of the blue bandana that she was tying round her head.

"You ready? Zack should be back any second now." Aeris asked her.

At that precise moment, the horn of a car could be heard from outside, along with a faint rumble of an engine.

Aeris smiled. "That's him, shall we go?"

Tifa stood up and followed her out the door. As Tifa stood outside, she gasped at the sight she saw. She was looking over a large beach, with the sun setting in the distance. The villa she had just come out of shone a faint tint of blue and she spotted a large garage close by. There was a main road that went past the villa, and waiting there in a silver Mitsubishi, was Zack.

"C'mon, you two… hop in."

* * *

Tifa watched the area they were passing through with keen interest. According to Zack, they were passing through an area called Back O' Beyond, and Tifa was taking in everything while she could. She had rarely left the Los Santos Area, and when she did, she only ever went to Las Venturas. They were driving along a motorway towards San Fierro. The traffic was light, so they were making good time. The sky was growing darker but there was still some light left from the setting sun.

While Zack and Aeris were quietly chatting in the front two seats of the car, Tifa listened to them from the back. They were keeping their voices low, obviously trying to stop Tifa from listening. But Tifa had learnt to eavesdrop quite well. She had had plenty of practice by listening to her father's meetings at their home.

"Who do you think is behind it all?" Aeris asked Zack.

Zack carefully turned the car around a high cliff before answering. "I'm not sure, but my suspicions point towards the Ballas. Their sneaky bastards… and they'll do almost anything to get as much control of Los Santos as possible."

Aeris scoffed. "You ass, your suspicions always point to the Ballas."

Zack frowned at her, "Can you blame me? I've been brought up despising the Ballas for what they've done to us. Only Spike hates them more than I do."

"Yeah but he's got plenty of reason to. You on the other hand only hate them due to family tradition. Its bloody pathetic I can tell you."

Zack forced himself to concentrate on the road, "Fuck you Aeris."

Aeris growled and crossed her arms across her chest, going into a huff. Tifa managed to restrain a giggle as the car entered San Fierro.

* * *

As soon as Zack had pulled the car to a stop, Tifa jumped out of it and stretched her numb legs. It wasn't surprising really… considering she had been sitting in the exact same position for the hour and a half that it took to get there. Aeris and Zack climbed out soon after her, still pissed off with each other. The trio made there way up to a large crowd of people that occupied a closed off street.

Tifa walked across to Aeris.

"What's happening here?" she asked.

"Illegal street racing. Spike comes out here every month to race. Apparently, he put down the pick slip this time."

"Pink slip?" Tifa asked, bewildered.

"That's what they give the money holder to say that their betting their car." Zack told her, obviously listening to the conversation. "Most people do that if they don't have the money necessary to race, but it's extremely risky. The opposing racers tend to smoke the pink slip racer by forcing them off the road. I just hope that Spike is being careful."

Tifa nodded and looked around. What looked like hundreds of racing cars lined the streets at either side. There was one main van at the top of the street, and several people surrounded it.

"What is that van for?" Tifa asked, speaking to both Zack and Aeris.

"Those are the technician guys." Zack explained, "See those cameras?" He said, pointing up onto the roofs of the buildings surrounding the area. Tifa indeed noticed several cameras, some on the roofs or on lampposts, at either end of the street. "There are cameras like those around the whole track and they record the race. That way, we can buy it and view the race."

"Plus, they hack into the Police radios." Aeris added, "So they can give us warning when the pigs are hoping to ambush us."

Tifa nodded but soon heard a loud screech of wheels. She looked into the distance and saw three cars speeding towards her, with the fourth currently skidding round the corner.

The two front racers were side by side, sparks flying off of their scraping sides. One was driving a blue Ferrari Enzo, while the other drove a yellow Nissan 350Z, or at least… that's what they looked like to Tifa. Though living a high-class life, she could recognise most cars and their makes. The two cars continued to rake across each other until the blue Ferrari pulled away before smashing into the back corner of the yellow car. The Nissan was sent into a tailspin while the Ferrari raced forward and sped past the finish line.

The crowd cheered and ran forward to the winner, as they final three cars crossed the line. Zack, Aeris and Tifa made their way over also, though much more calmly. Tifa watched as the Ferrari's driver got out of his car and shook the hands of several people in the crowd. Tifa looked him over in interest. He had lovely golden-blond hair that was styled into outrageous spikes that seemed to defy gravity. He had a well-built structure, though he looked quite short, as a man who handed him money seemed to tower over him.

Zack walked over to him, while Tifa and Aeris stayed where they were. Tifa turned to Aeris to ask who he was, but found her in a deep conversation with another person in the crowd. Tifa turned back to watch Zack and the man talk. Zack nodded over in her direction and the racer looked over at her.

Tifa's eyes widened as the man's piercing blue eyes locked onto her ruby ones. His eyes were so familiar… that was when she realised.

'That's the man from last night!'

* * *

Whew, that was a toughie to write. I actually rewrote this chapter 3 times and I'm still not very pleased with it. If anyone wants me to change it so you can see the race, let me know, or wait until next time. A bit of action next chapter and Tifa is introduced to Spike, who you can probably all guess the identity of.

**Ric Leonhart** – Here's a tip. Go out and buy the game. It is a lot of fun but I found it extremely difficult. I hope that doesn't make me a bad gamer. Boohoo :( Oh and thanks for liking this as well as most of my other stories. Makes me so happy

**cloudude** – Yeah, you reviewed. Cheers. I didn't like my prologue much. It seemed a bit too rushed for me. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Bakuras Dark Angel** – Thanks for reviewing once again. Don't worry… you won't need to know anything about Final Fantasy VII to understand this fic.

**Freek Style 23** – Thanks Roxie. You rock too girl! So does Law, but not as much as you -

**Lorok** – Yeah, a fellow Grand Theft Auto fan. I'm guessing that 'Fag' is OG Loc (a.k.a. Jeffrey) if it is then; yes you do need to complete his mission strand before doing the C.R.A.S.H strand (or Tenpenny's strand) of missions. Hope that helps… if you ever need info on GTA: SA put it in a review or an email. Also… thanks for the tips to play FF9, I've seen a few clips and it looks good.


	3. Another Race

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Two:** Another Race

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - I am so, so sorry for the lack of updates everyone. Everything has been hectic over the last few months but I got down to updating this as quickly as I could. Also I've had a very difficult time getting ideas for this and getting the motivation to write it down, as you can probably tell from the lack of updates. But here's an update for you, not a very good one but and update nonetheless. So, review and tell me what a moron I am for not updating :) and what you think, if you wish.

* * *

_I must admit. Seeing him again was scary… I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it was thanks to what I had heard earlier. Zack said he wanted to deal with me. That was what scared me. Not knowing what he was going to do with me. I could have been killed for all I knew. But I also remembered that I thought the same about Zack and Aeris… they hadn't harmed me. So I wasn't sure._

_As he looked at me I couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. I had always thought of gangsters as men when rotten teeth and a constant smell of smoke around them, not to mention to drunken state from taking drugs. I was really surprised._

_At the time, I didn't know that it wouldn't be the only surprise I would get that night._

_

* * *

_

Tifa stared at the man as he looked back at her. She couldn't help but be mesmerised by his eyes, the same ones she had seen the night before. The man smirked at her before turning back to Zack but Tifa couldn't take her eyes off him. Something about him intrigued Tifa. She knew that she would probably end up meeting him and having to deal with the tough guy attitude that most men had. But even that didn't deflate her interest.

"I see you've spotted Spike."

Tifa turned at the voice and found Aeris next to her.

"So, that IS the person that saved me last night." Tifa said quietly. Aeris nodded and walked towards them. Tifa nervously followed behind her.

The two men turned as the girls approached. Aeris reached up to Spike and gave him a hug, quietly congratulating him. He whispered something in return, as the three had a brief hushed conversation. Tifa wasn't listened. She was watching the people in the street.

She noticed how different they all were from her first opinion. Many of the girls in the area were wearing quite fancy clothes, though they showed off a bit more than was necessary. Several of the men she spotted were dressed in leather that looked quite thick. She also noticed that many of them carried helmets, suggesting they rode motorcycles. Most of the people around her area were drug abusers, which would explain why they were so poor and violent. She was starting to think that, maybe she was wrong about them. But she wouldn't make her mind up yet.

"Tifa!"

Tifa whipped her head round to look at Aeris, who had shouted her name. Aeris looked at Spike then gestured towards Tifa.

"Cloud, this is Tifa Lockhart." She told him, as they pair shook hands.

"Tifa… this is Cloud Strife."

"Nice to meet you, Cloud." Tifa said nervously.

"Same." Cloud replied.

"Hey listen," Zack said, turning to Cloud. "We'll go see what information Akira has collected. We'll just head straight back to Los Santos afterwards."

"Alright, I'll be leaving soon as well. Be careful." Cloud warned them as the walked away.

Tifa watched them walk away. She was surprised when she heard Cloud speak to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She simply nodded. "I'm actually surprised to see you so calm and relaxed. I've seen a few people scarred for life after an experience like that."

Tifa smiled at him. "You never know. Maybe I'm just hiding it to get sympathy from you later on."

Cloud chuckled and leaned against the side of his car, a pensive look on his face. Tifa watched him as he stood there in deep thought. He looked worried about something, what it was she didn't know and she wasn't about to ask.

Both of them were startled when they heard a loud whistle. Cloud looked up to the top of the street, suddenly straightened from his car. Tifa followed his gaze and saw one of the technicians waving his arms about frantically on to of the van.

"Scramble guys! We've got cops! Move it!"

All in one instance, everyone started running for his or her cars. Tifa stood their confused but snapped to attention when she heard Cloud shout at her.

"Tifa, let's go. Hop in."

She nodded and ran into his car, feeling extremely nervous. Cloud on the other hand looked strangely calm. Tifa waited and watched as dozens of cars sped past them, each of them moving at dangerous speeds.

Cloud started the engine of his Ferrari just has three Police Cars sped around the top of the street, with more pilling in afterwards. He thrust his foot onto the accelerator and sped away from them. The police began to pick up their speed and chase them. Just as they came to a junction, Cloud took a sudden turn to the left, veering away from the direction most of the other racers took. He looked into the mirror to see the majority of the police cars follow them, and smirked.

He turned right some time later and came to a long stretch of road. There was a collection of police cars cutting off the exit and several of them were driving towards Cloud and Tifa.

"All right San Fierro's finest, let's see what you've got." Cloud said as he changed gear and sped up.

Tifa tensed, knowing that whatever Cloud was planning to do would be dangerous.

And she was right. She soon felt the car jerk suddenly to the left to avoid a car and do the same again several seconds later. Two police cars suddenly formed a line in front of them, turning their cars so they were side-on. Cloud swerved in between them but barely making it through the block. The sound of the cars scraping each other helped prove it. Cloud cursed quietly, knowing how close the encounter was. The two looked behind them in time to see multiple police cars crash into the roadblock and some of them screech to a halt.

Cloud laughed and continued his drive, deeper into San Fierro. He looked at Tifa, who was finally beginning to relax.

"Sorry about that. It was my turn to distract the cops when they found us. Are you alright?"

Tifa nodded and smiled. "So… where are we going now?"

"We'll head back to my place so I can drop off the car. If my bike is ready, we'll be heading back to Los Santos, okay?"

Tifa nodded again. She couldn't help but notice how much she enjoyed the chase. How she was both nervous and extremely excited.

"Is this adrenaline feels like?" she thought.

_

* * *

_

"Make yourself at home." Cloud told her, as they walked into the living room. Cloud walked through into another room while Tifa just stood at the doorway.

Tifa looked around the room and saw most of the items you would find in the main room of the house. A television, a stereo and… a dog. Tifa smiled and walked over to where it rested on the couch. It perked when she sat down and she carefully clapped it. It suddenly jumped up and started licking her, while Tifa couldn't help but giggle.

"Kai!"

The dog suddenly stopped and turned to face Cloud, its tail wagging furiously.

"Give it rest, would you?"

The dog just continued to look at him happily before turning to Tifa again and continuing to lick her. Cloud rolled his eyes before going back through the door and returning with a phone in his hands.

Someone suddenly entered the room and just walked straight up to Cloud, not even noticing Tifa.

"Yo, I've left your bike outside alright. I've fixed the suspension, filled the tank and gave it a little shine too. You're all set to head back to Los Santos." The man said quickly.

"Great, thanks." Cloud said simply, and the man turned to exit the room, but also noticed Tifa for the first time.

"And who might you be?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"My name's Tifa." She replied.

The man grinned and sat next to her, swiftly running his hand through his ruffled black hair before leaning over to stroke Kai.

"And how, may I ask, that spiky over there got the pleasure of your company." He asked, nodding at Cloud, who was busy dialling the phone.

Tifa didn't answer immediately, not knowing whether she should tell him. She opened her mouth to say something totally untrue when Cloud did it for her.

"She's a friend of Aeris'. She needs a ride back to Los Santos since someone hi-jacked her car."

The man smiled and turned to Tifa again.

"Make sure he doesn't try anything funny. He's quite a stud, you know." He said, slyly grinning.

Tifa grinned and raised her eyebrows. "Is he now?"

Cloud grinned at them. "Of course I'm not. Alden's just jealous because I managed to bring a girl home, whether intentional or not, whereas he's been rejected for the past 3 months."

Tifa laughed, but Alden frowned in mock anger.

"Hey, fuck you Cloud. You know damn well that I could easily get a girl, what with my charm and good looks."

Cloud scoffed and put the phone to his ear. He waited several moments before someone picked up. "Hey Aeris. It's Cloud. Listen…"

Alden sighed and picked up the television remote. He casually flicked through the channels until he found the news. The reporter was talking about the recent unknown crime spree. Tifa just listened, still stroking the now sleeping Kai next to her.

_"Now, onto other news. The opening of the Las Venturas Multi-million Car Exhibit was marred by a tragedy."_

"Hey! That's where my father works!" Tifa exclaimed, catching the attention of both men in the room.

"Alden, turn that up. Aeris, I'll call you later." He said, cancelling the call.

The three watched the television, listening carefully as Alden turned it up louder.

_"After hearing of the death of his daughter, Miss Tifa Lockhart, which took place yesterday, Mr. Aaron Lockhart dedicated the new Car Exhibit to her. But during the opening, Mr. Lockhart took a sudden bullet to the head from an unknown location. His death was instant, and police are investigating the incident."_

Everyone sat there in silence. Tifa stared at the screen, unable to believe what she had heard. Her father… assassinated? Why?

Alden muttered something inaudible and got up. Cloud watched Tifa as she held back her tears. He tried to think of a way to comfort her but…

"Cloud." He heard her say. "Take me back to Los Santos… back to my home."

"But Tifa, it's…"

"Please."

Cloud noticed the plea in her voice. He nodded and stood up.

"We'll go now. Alden got my motorcycle ready, but we'll be going helmet-less, okay?"

Tifa nodded and stayed sitting while Cloud went to get ready. There was only one thought in her mind.

"Why is this happening to me?"

_

* * *

_

Cloud stopped in front of the collapsed Lockhart household. Tifa carefully got off of the motorcycle and slow walked to the wreckage, her whole body shaking.

As she looked upon the remains of the building, flashes of memory from the fire entered her mind. She felt warm tears run down her face as she came to a conclusion of her life. She had lost everything. After hearing of her father's assassination, she had asked Cloud bring her here, in the hope that she could pick up the pieces of what she had left. She hadn't realised that she had lost everything she had ever cared for.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder but she didn't turn round.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay here?" she heard Cloud ask. She simply nodded, unable to speak. Cloud looked at her sadly before walking back to his vehicle. He climbed on, and took one last look at Tifa. He argued with himself whether to let her continue with her life on her own, or whether to refuse to let her out of his sight. His main worry was whether or not her attackers had found out if she was still alive. If they had, they would surely come after her again.

Cloud shook his head. If there was nothing she wanted him to do, then her fate was in her own hands. He started up his engine and began to drive away.

Tifa's eyes widened when she heard his motorcycle start. He was the only one who could help her get her life back together. He was the only one who could help her… get her revenge. She no longer cared about figuring how why this had happened. All that mattered to her… was doing as much damage to her attackers as possible. For destroying her life, and taking her father away from her permanently.

"Cloud!" she screamed as he drove away.

Cloud suddenly skidded to a halt and turned to see Tifa running to him. He saw the determined look on her face, and he waited for her to speak.

"Cloud, I want to get back at whoever did this to me. I want to make them pay."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I want to join the Maria Racers."

_

* * *

_

Well… there's chapter two. Hope you guys liked it, cause I personally don't think it's very good. Until next time…


	4. Adrenaline

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Three:** Adrenaline

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - I am happy to say that I found this chapter MUCH easier to write. Also, if anyone has any ideas for the story I would love to hear them. Just leave them in a review, or e-mail me them (my e-mail is in my profile) and I'll see what I can do. Big chapter this time, and you guys can thank **Kairi10223** for commenting on my lack of detail and motivating me to add a bit more description to this.

* * *

_What was I thinking? After we returned to Zack and Aeris' villa, I lay awake in their guest room for hours wondering that. Did I make the right choice? I was joining a group full of people I had grown to despise. All my life, I had talked about them like a deadly virus… a plague, just waiting for an opportune to sweep the city. But now… I was becoming one of them._

_I swore to myself that, once this had all been righted, I would leave. I would rebuild my life after I had gotten rid of those assholes that murdered my father and tried to kill me. I swore that… no matter how long it took… I would do what I joined the Maria Racers to do… then leave, and go back to a normal life._

_But when the time came… would I be able to?_

_

* * *

_

A loud bang awoke Tifa the next morning. She sat up, rubbing her weary eyes, trying to find the source of the noise. She jumped when she heard another bang and realised that it was coming from outside.

She wandered into the back garden of the house, after changing into her clothes of the previous day. She spotted Cloud in a secluded area of the garden, standing some distance from a small, brick wall. She noticed that he was dressed very darkly, black leather covering most of him, except for his navy hooded top. He was staring at something, and Tifa followed his gaze. On top of the wall about ten feet away from him, was a collection drinking cans, each lined up side by side. Tifa noticed a small pistol in Cloud's hands as he aimed at them. His face held a look of total concentration, as if nothing could break it. He fired again and the bullet pierced through the centre of the can. The sudden blast from the gun caught Tifa by surprise, and she gasped. The quiet noise attracted Cloud's attention and he turned to see who it was.

"Tifa? Didn't think you'd be up for a while." He commented.

"The shooting woke me up." She told him.

"Oh," Cloud said, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about that. I just thought I'd practice a little. This is really the only place I can do it, since its more secluded than anywhere in San Fierro."

Tifa nodded, understanding what he meant. Aeris' villa was right on the coast, with virtually no houses nearby. Although there was a beach close by, no one from urban area of the city dared to use it, as it was widely known as gang territory. The main road was the main route out of the south area of Los Santos, but it was unusable because the bridge connected the two lands had collapsed during a hurricane and no-one had gotten round to rebuilding it. She thought about this as she watched Cloud load up his gun again. He fired again but this time he scraped the can, barely knocking it off the wall. Tifa heard him sigh heavily and chuckled.

"I'm guessing using a gun isn't what you're best at." She said sarcastically.

Cloud turned to her and grinned.

"Nah, I'm more used to using swords." He told her, while reloading the pistol, "Been practicing with them since I was 15."

"So why do you use guns then? Wouldn't it be easier just to use your swords?" Tifa asked in confusion.

"No, not really. Because what good is a sword to you if your surrounded by enemies trying to blow your head off?" he asked seriously, raising an eyebrow. Tifa stayed silent, knowing what he meant. "It's a survival game around here Tifa. Either you kill them…" he paused, as he blasted another can off the wall, "… or they kill you." He then looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "If you show any mercy to your enemy Tifa… well, let's just say that you won't last very long. You gotta get in there first."

He held out the gun to Tifa, and she stared at it.

"So do you wanna try?"

Tifa swallowed a lump in her throat. She couldn't help but watch the weapon carefully, as if it was about to hurt her. She knew how easily a gun could kill someone, and that's what frightened her.

"Cloud… I've never touched a gun in my life let alone fire one." She whispered quietly, but Cloud managed to hear every word.

"Don't worry. I'll show you what to do."

Tifa walked over to stand next to him. He gestured to the gun and fiddled around with it.

"Just aim in the direction you want to fire. Try to keep it steady, and squeeze the trigger to fire. Don't pull it."

He passed it to her, and walked behind her, watching. She did what he told her, and held it up to the cans. Her arms were still slightly shaking, and her fingers tightened around the trigger.

When she fired, the recoil of the gun shocked her more than the noise and she stumbled back into Cloud, who caught her shoulders. Her grip on the handle of the pistol slackened and she almost dropped it. She saw the slightly damaged part of the wall where the bullet had struck, several feet from the top, showing she had missed entirely.

"Shit… I can't do this Cloud!" she panicked, her breathing irregular as she tried to calm down.

She took in a sharp breath when she felt Cloud wrap his arms around her from behind. He grabbed her forearms, and raised them so the gun was pointing towards the cans. With the position they were in, when he spoke, his words were hot against her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Don't worry about not hitting the target perfectly." He whispered to her, "Sometimes, even a minor wound can take someone out of the fight. That's the best you ca hope for. If you don't want to go for a kill, try to hit them at least."

He held her arms until they had stopped shaking and lowered his hands to hold her waist, making Tifa flinch slightly. Tifa didn't know why she was so jumpy when he touched her but she ignored it. She began to feel her nervousness return when she began to pull the trigger. She fired again, only bending her arms back at the recoil this time. She watched as one of the cans was off of the wall, the bullet barely scraping it.

She sighed in relief and heard Cloud chuckle.

"Well done." He said, patting her back and taking the gun from her. He reloaded it and passed it back before moving away. "Just remember, your human targets are gonna be much bigger." He commented, walking over to a small portion of the wall and sitting down.

Tifa's eyes widened. "Human targets?"

Cloud looked at her expression and noticed how she seemed both surprised and fearful at that notion. He sighed and shook his head.

"Tifa… are you sure you really want to join us? We could easily just help you out and keep you out of the fighting. You may not know this… but your father once helped the Maria Racers a few years back when I first joined. We'd be more than willing to get revenge for you. That way you wouldn't be under so much pressure. Because, to me, you don't seem to be coping with the knowledge that you'll probably end up killing someone."

Tifa sighed sadly. He was right. She knew that she wanted revenge for her father's assassination… but the idea of killing someone was alien to her. She had been brought up with the knowledge that, because of her father's reputation, someone may one day, take her and use her as a hostage to influence her father. So, for the last six years, she had been trained to fight as a martial artist. These fighting skills were only to be used as defence, and so far, no situation had occurred where she had needed to use them. Also, she was only trained to put her opponents out of commission, not to kill.

"I'm sure, Cloud." She told him. "I'm just nervous about this. I feel like someone is constantly watching me… just waiting to go for the kill and it terrifies me. But, like you said, I'll have to get in there first. And no matter what…" she paused as she raised the gun again, "I'm gonna get back at the people who did this to me. No matter what!"

She fired again, and her eyes widened when she punctured the can through the centre. She turned to Cloud and grinned, who looked as surprised as she felt. He smiled back and stood.

"Well… if that's what you want. I suppose you'll be needing a new look."

"Why?" Tifa asked, wondering what he meant.

"Because if your attackers find out you're alive, they will try to kill you again. We'll be able to keep you safe for longer if they can't recognise you. C'mon."

With that he walked away, and Tifa followed close behind. She looked back at the cans and smiled, thinking that maybe she could do this. She could get her own back. When she heard Cloud's motorbike start up, she rushed to it and climbed behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist to stop her from falling off. When he was sure Tifa had gotten comfortable, he drove off, heading into the centre of Los Santos.

_

* * *

_

Cloud sighed heavily as he leaned against the wall outside a hairdresser, where Tifa currently was. He had been waiting there for almost an hour. But it wasn't the boredom that was bothering him.

The area they were in was Farina territory. Although they weren't direct enemies of the Maria Racers, they shared an alliance with the Ballas, which gave them permission to enter their territory on their own free will. The Ballas had a serious grudge against Cloud and his gang ever since they had lost half of their territory in a large-scale gang war several years ago. Cloud was currently on their 'Must Kill' list and this made moving about in Los Santos very difficult.

He was busy sharpening a knife by scraping the edges with a rock. He felt very vulnerable out in the open like this, but if anyone were about to attack him, at least Tifa would get a reasonable chance to escape while he kept them busy.

Too occupied with his thinking; Cloud got a surprise when the door to the shop opened. Tifa came out, and Cloud couldn't help but stare at her. He almost couldn't recognise her.

She wore a small, black, leather skirt that reached half-way up her thighs and a black, low-cut top that exposed some of her chest and her mid-drift, but hung down slightly at the back. Her hair was no longer waist length, but reached just below her shoulders, and contained several streaks of blonde and red. Her outfit was finished with a pair of black, leather boots and matching fingerless gloves. To describe her stereotypically, you'd say she looked like a Goth.

She smiled at Cloud when she noticed him looking over her.

"It's rude to stare, you know." She said simply.

Cloud smiled sheepishly, blushing slightly. He looked away from her while pocketing his knife and started to head back to where he had left his bike. Tifa giggled and followed him, clutching onto his arm so she could walk beside him and smiling at him sweetly. He yanked his arm away, knowing she was teasing him for his shyness before.

"You know, you look really sweet when your blushing." She told him, grinning.

He looked at her perplexingly. "Shut up!"

Tifa laughed as he looked away but he soon started laughing along with her. But he stopped suddenly when he heard a voice from behind them.

"Having fun, Spike?"

Tifa saw Cloud's face turn pale before he mouthed 'Run!' to her. He looked behind him to the owners of the voices and saw two people walking in their direction. He looked back at Tifa with a serious look on his face.

"Get back to the bike. Go!" he whispered to her. Tifa looked to the two people advancing towards them and noticed that they both held guns. She started to back away before turning and running through an alleyway that led to Cloud's bike.

Cloud sighed, thankful that Tifa was now out of harms way. He calmly turned to the people walking towards him, smirking. The two men stopped several feet in front of him, looking at him with a dangerous gleam in their eyes. Cloud didn't show any fear, nor did he feel any. He had been in situations like this before with Ballas and had gotten used to it. The two men were slightly taller than him but they still kept their distance.

"Long time, no see. How long has it bin? A year, maybe two?" one of them asked, acting friendly.

"That long? Wow, time really flies. I'm guessing you didn't miss me much, if I remember our last encounter." Cloud replied, his hand slowly edging to the knife that he had been sharpening earlier.

The man scowled at him, fingering the trigger of his gun. The other man smirked.

"So, who was that? Your girlfriend? She looks hot, mind if I meet up with her sometime?"

Cloud smirked back at the man. "Ye, sure. I'll just go get her so you trash-diggers can give her a good fuck. That sound good?"

It was the other man's turn to scowl. "You know, I remember being told that sarcasm is the product of a weak mind."

Cloud gasped, "Aw… I'm hiding the pain. Really!" he said mockingly.

"Ye? Well let's see you hide the pain I'm about to let you feel!" shouted the man that had been playing with the trigger of his gun. He raised it in an attempt to shoot at Cloud's head, but Cloud grabbed his wrist has it rose. He pulled the man's arm and he stumbled as he was jerked forward. Cloud dug his now drawn knife into the back of the man's head and pulled out back out swiftly, letting him fall to the floor, dead. He then spun and slashed his comrade's throat. The man made a gurgling noise and grabbed his throat that was bleeding profusely. He soon fell to the floor She had heard like his friend.

Cloud almost sighed in relief but a bullet whizzed past his head and impacted with the wall next to him. Exiting one of the alleyways on the opposite side of the street was perhaps a dozen Ballas. Some of them ran towards him while the others tried to put a bullet in him. Cloud rapidly pulled out his pistol and shot two of the oncoming Ballas, one in the leg and the other took a bullet to the chest. Several bullets flew past him, one barely missing his arm. That was the convincement he needed to run. He sped down the alleyway Tifa had run to, occasionally turning and shooting in order to gain some distance between himself and the Ballas.

He pulled out his phone as he ran and quickly called Zack.

"Zack, where are you?" he shouted into the phone, turning around once again and shooting, catching a Ballas member in the thigh. He started running again as Zack answered.

"We just got off the highway. What's going on?"

"Ballas are chasing me, but I've got no time to explain. Get to the Rodeo fork road to collect Tifa."

Cloud hung up before Zack had any time to ask anything else and began to sprint even faster than before.

He finally reached his bike and found an anxious Tifa standing next to it.

"Cloud, what's happening?" she asked, worriedly.

Cloud hurriedly jumped onto his bike and started it. "They're coming after us. Hop on, quick!"

Tifa climbed on behind him and the bike almost instantly started moving. The two sped into the traffic, trying not to look too obvious. Cloud looked behind him and spotted three distinguishable black cars driving on the same road. The cars had a bullet painted on the sides, with the word 'Power' written beneath it.

"Fuck!" Cloud cursed. "The assholes set up an ambush!"

"But… how did the know we were here?" Tifa asked, confused. They had avoided the main road on the way into Los Santos, so she didn't understand how they could have known.

"I don't know. Maybe they set it up while I was waiting for you. That's the only explanation I can think of." Cloud answered, having to shout over the noise. "I'm gonna try to lose them, so hang on."

Tifa barely had a moment to react by tightening her grip on Cloud before he began to swerve between the traffic. The bike sped up and Tifa could barely hear the engine of the bike over the noise of the wind rushing past her. She looked behind her and noticed that they had gotten a decent amount of distance between them and the cars that were chasing them. They pursuers were trying desperately to get through the traffic and were barely succeeding.

After several minutes driving at high speed, Cloud turned a corner sharply, the bike leaning over to far that Tifa thought it would slip from underneath them. When they straightened out, a familiar Mitsubishi pulled up alongside them, on the left side of the bike. The window lowered and revealed Zack.

"Tifa, get in!"

Tifa looked at him in surprise and saw the back passenger door open, with Aeris inside.

"C'mon Tifa."

Tifa looked at Cloud and he nodded, looking back for a split second. Tifa noticed a fork in the road coming up and knew she had to act fast. She carefully manoeuvred herself until she was sitting sideways on the bike and reached over to the car before sliding in. She shut the door behind her and leaned forward to hear what Zack was saying to Cloud.

"…get her back to the villa. They'll probably keep at least one car on you so take it out." Cloud shouted over the roaring engines of the car and bike.

"See you later. Make sure you come back in one piece." Zack replied.

Cloud nodded and as they reached the fork, he veered off to the right, while the others took the road to the left. Tifa looked back to see two of the three cars follow Cloud, while the other pursued them. She gasped when she saw one of the passengers hang out the side window, holding a gun. He fired several shots, and they all ducked when the rear window shattered.

"Aeris! Take him out!" Zack shouted. Aeris reached underneath the seat she was on, pulling out a slim gun, a kind that Tifa had never seen before. She squeezed the trigger and multiple shots were fired, rapidly. The man at the window took several bullets in the chest and fell out the car, landing on the road. Another person took his place and fired a gun of the same kind as Aeris. She ducked but one bullet grazed her arm and she cried out in pain.

"Aeris! Are you alright?" Tifa asked, extremely concerned.

Aeris nodded. "Ye, it just grazed me, I'll be alright."

Tifa growled in anger and grabbed the gun. She shot furiously at the front window, and it eventually shattered. The pursuing car swerved slightly as the driver shut his eyes to protect them from the glass. Tifa shot at him, and she hit home. As the driver was hit in the shoulder and chest, he swerved furiously, unable to control the car. He soon turned so sharply that the car flipped over onto its back and round again. It soon crashed against a wall at the side of the road, lying on its back before exploding into flames moments later. Tifa sighed in relief and lay down the gun, sitting back in her seat. She grasped her head as she panted heavily, feeling the adrenaline rush wear off.

"Nice shooting." Aeris commented as she relaxed as well.

"Thanks." Tifa said simply, thankful that she could rest once again.

The Mitsubishi drove calmly among the traffic when they got back to the main road. It looked very out of place, with all the bullet marks and the broken windscreen. Tifa would have laughed at all the strange looks they were getting, if she hadn't been feeling the guilt that she was at that moment.

"This is all my fault." Tifa said quietly, sighing sadly. If Cloud got hurt, or worse, the blame would be on her. People were after her, and obviously this had been their first attempt.

"No it's not Tifa." She heard Aeris say to her. "The Ballas weren't looking for you. It was Cloud they were after."

This news surprised Tifa. She had heard Zack and Aeris say something about Cloud hating the Ballas, but she hadn't heard the entire conversation. Aeris noticed the expression on her face and grimaced when she placed a hand on her arm wound.

"Cloud will explain later. All we can do now is go back to the villa and hope he'll be okay."

Tifa nodded and looked out the window.

"Cloud," she whispered, "Come back safe."

_

* * *

_

**Cloud's-Tifa-Strife** – You know; I'm actually glad now that I chose Tifa to have a more determined personality. I was gonna have her more dependent and unsure of herself but like I said, I'm glad I changed that.

**Kairi10223** – Thanks very much for your constructive criticism. I actually see what you mean. Maybe that's why my chapters for this story are shorter than usual. The funny thing is that I have always criticised my own work on not having enough description and you've sort of just proved it. Thanks for noticing though, cause I'll be working on that. 


	5. Hand Of Blood

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Four:** Hand of Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - Wow, I'm surprised at how many people are actually reading this. Almost 500 hits and that make me feel all tingly… lol. Thanks for reading guys. Also, another apology for a late update. I've been hit so hard by lack of inspiration that it hurts. Getting ideas for this has become increasingly difficult, as with my other stories. So, thanks everyone for sticking with this story. On a different note, sorry if the characters seem a bit OOC. It's just the way I've written this. If you find it annoying, let me know. Cheers.

* * *

_I couldn't help but feel guilty about what happened. Even if what Aeris said was true, and the Ballas were after Cloud not me, if Cloud had been alone, Aeris wouldn't have been injured. And those men wouldn't have died in the crash. I know it sounds strange, regretting the death of people who had tried to kill me. Maybe I wouldn't have been so guilty if I knew what they wanted to kill me for._

_I also didn't understand why they wanted Cloud so badly. It was obviously something along the lines of gang rivalry but that can't be the whole reason. If that had been the whole reason, they would have went for us first, since they would have three victims instead of just one. At least, that's what I figured._

_I wasn't far off the mark either._

* * *

Tifa, Aeris and Zack all returned to the villa, worry etched onto their features. Tifa felt terrible, feeling partly responsible for what had happened. If Cloud didn't make it back alive, she would never forgive herself.

The three sat in the living room, where two sofas sat diagonal to the television on either side. Aeris sat next to Zack, who was wrapping a bandage around her bullet wound. Tifa watched as he did this, noticing the damage done. Her arm had a trail of blood down to her elbow, the blood exiting from the wound just below her shoulder. The wound itself wasn't deep but it looked painful. A small chunk of skin was missing, showing the path the bullet had passed through. Zack has managed to stop her arm bleeding as badly and insisted that he put a bandage over it, just in case. Aeris looked to Tifa while she was watching and smiled.

"Don't worry Tifa. I've had worse injuries than this before. I once took three bullets to my left leg and I ended up not being able to walk for almost a month. Zack had to carry me everywhere."

"Ye," Zack told her, "It didn't help that it was one of her heavy periods."

That comment earned him a smack on the head from Aeris, while Tifa couldn't help but giggle.

"Never give a bad comment on a girl's weight. You could end up hospitalised if you say it to the wrong person." She said. Zack only shrugged.

"Ye well… what can Aeris do?" he said simply, just as he finished tying the bandage.

As soon as he let go of the bandage, Aeris' injured arm shot down to his groin, her hand balled into a fist. He cried out in pain and grasped his injured area and muttered out a long string of curses.

"That's what I can do you asshole!" Aeris told him, accompanied by a satisfied grin.

Tifa could barely breathe because she was laughing too hard at the couple. She briefly wondered how the two were still together considering how they abused each other both verbally and physically. She finally managed to pull herself together and wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.

The roaring of an engine from outside caught the attention of the trio. Aeris stood up suddenly and rushed to the front door. Tifa turned to Zack, who had recovered from Aeris' punishment and was starting to stand.

"It's him." He said, answering her unasked question, "We'd recognise that engine anywhere."

The two walked outside and saw Aeris walking back to the house, supporting an injured Cloud. Zack walked up to them and took Cloud from her, who was barely able to support his own weight.

"You alright, man?" Zack asked him.

Cloud nodded. "Just a shot to my leg. Apart from that I'm fine."

Zack helped him inside and he settled onto the couch, clutching his leg. Tifa sat beside him and watched him grimace when he clutched his wound. She looked away, feeling sick with guilt for Cloud getting injured. Cloud saw her saddened expression and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Tifa?" he asked.

All Tifa could do was nod, not able to even look at him. Cloud sighed and shook his head.

"I know what you're thinking Tifa. But it's not your fault. The Ballas were after me this time and it was my carelessness that allowed them to know I was there. I shouldn't have stayed out in the open. It's not your fault." He repeated. Tifa felt slightly reassured by what he said and managed to look at him, seeing a smile on his face. She smiled back.

"Thanks. I couldn't help but think it was something that I had done that caused this to happen."

Cloud shook his head. "The Ballas have been after me for years. That's why I don't live in Los Santos, because it's mostly their territory. Even though we have some areas for our gang to live in, we're still under constant threat. And the Ballas are especially determined to see me six feet under."

"Why?" Tifa asked.

Cloud suddenly hesitated and looked away. Tifa was instantly afraid that she had asked about something that had angered him. Just as she was about to tell him there was no need to answer, he spoke.

"Some time eight years ago, when I was thirteen, I stumbled into Ballas territory. Back then… I helped one of my friends in the garage that his father owned. He was a few years older than me, but since I had no home, he gave me shelter at his place. That day, I had borrowed a blue bandana from him and I was wearing it. A blue bandana is the Maria Racer's signature clothing item, and even back then they were enemies."

He paused and glanced up to see Aeris and Zack talking out in the hall. He couldn't hear their conversation but he knew they were either arguing or gossiping. He turned back to Tifa and continued.

"They instantly assumed I was from the Maria Racers, but I wasn't. At that time, I didn't even know they existed. I explained that to them, but they didn't believe me. So, instead of just killing me then and there, they knocked me out and took me to their hideout. I can't remember where it was but it wasn't in Los Santos." Cloud paused again, and when he spoke, Tifa noticed that his voice was quieter, and held a hint of fear in it. She couldn't help but think that this was something she didn't want to hear, but she didn't stop him. "I don't remember much about my time there but I remember them… beating me, trying to find out more about the Maria Racers. I… I was drugged… once or twice, I'm not sure. And some other things… more abusive, happened."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't understand how someone who had been through all that could still be alive and seem so normal. To her, Cloud was an extremely confident person who enjoyed his life when he wasn't being hunted down. She would never of guessed that these thing would have happened to him.

"I'm not sure exactly how long this went on, maybe a month or two. But once they'd decided to dispose of me, they sent in someone with a syringe full of a poisonous liquid, so they could kill me quickly without any noise attracting people outside. They had left me alone for a few days, and I'd rested quite a bit, so I had a fair amount of my strength back. Just before the Balla injected the poison, I grabbed the syringe from him and injected him instead. He had a gun on him… and I took it. I managed to shoot my way out of there. I'm not sure how many people I killed but it wasn't much. If there had been any more I wouldn't have made it out. I don't remember what happened after I got out but I must have collapsed because I woke up in someone's house.

"The person let me stay there for a while until I recovered, then he took me to Miami. That's where some street racers taught me how to drive when I was 14, and I started my sword practice a year later. When I was 17, I came back to San Fierro and started earning my racing reputation. I've known Aeris all my childhood, and I met her again there. I also met Zack. The two invited me to join the Maria Racers after I told them what the Ballas did to me. I agreed, so I could get my own back. From then, I helped the Maria Racers win the gang war that lost the Ballas almost half their territory and I also managed to help them uncover a traitor in the gang. Their old leader was actually a Ballas member but he'd tricked them and almost managed to kill all the members in an ambush. But we stopped him in time, and I took his place. Since then… it's been nothing but war and hiding for me."

Tifa put a hand on his shoulder when he had finished.

"Cloud… I'm so sorry. I would never have guessed that you had such a rough past."

Cloud smiled sadly. "We've all had rough pasts Tifa. That's why we fight. Aeris' parents were murdered in front of her during a shoot-out and the Ballas leader drowned Zack's father. They've been fighting for longer than I have."

Tifa looked away, thinking. Her life had been almost perfect, with the exception of her mother's death when she was eight. She had died of cancer, and they had been too late to stop it. Apart from that… she had never had anything to be particularly upset about. But now… with her father's death… she had something to fight for. She could fight _with _them.

Cloud watched her while she was thinking. He couldn't help but stare at her, noticing that she was extremely pretty, if not outright beautiful. Her coloured hair suited her perfectly and her ruby eyes held so much warmth and compassion when you gaze into them. Her eyes… they had been the first things he noticed about her when he rescued her from the fire. He had only seen them for a few seconds and he was more than happy to gaze into them when he met her again in San Fierro. His eyes began to trail down her face while she was still looking away. His gaze passed over her nose, her lips, before making their way back to her eyes.

"It's rude to stare, you know."

Both Cloud and Tifa turned at Aeris' remark. She stood at the door, sending Cloud an accusing look, which he replied to with a rude hand gesture. Tifa smiled and blushed as she started to stand.

"I'm gonna go practice my shooting. See ya later."

* * *

Tifa came back to the villa several hours later. She looked at the living-room clock and noticed it was almost 5pm. Cloud was lying on the couch, sleeping, while Zack and Aeris were out getting repairs done for the Mitsubishi. Tifa smiled as she decided to annoy Cloud a bit. She walked over to her sleeping form and sat down, heavily, onto his stomach. He was woken immediately, with the breath knocked out of him.

"Shit!" he managed to wheeze out.

"Have a nice sleep?" Tifa asked with a sweet smile.

"Yeah, until I had a hundred pounds of lump dumped on me." He teased, raising his arm to block Tifa's attempt to hit him on the head.

"You know, Zack learned the hard way that he shouldn't tease a girl's weight. Didn't he tell you?"

Cloud made a mock-thinking expression and shook his head. "No I don't think so. What did Aeris do? Punch him in the balls?"

"Yeah, exactly." Tifa said, raising her fist to do exactly the same to Cloud.

"Don't you dare!" Cloud yelled, panicking.

"Say sorry."

"I'm sorry!"

Tifa smirked and lowered her hand, while Cloud sighed in relief. She got off him and sat next to him as he moved to a sitting position.

"So… how did the practice go?" Cloud asked, trying to start up a simple conversation.

Tifa sighed sadly. "Not good. My aim's terrible. It took 3 bullets just to knock one can off. And even then I barely scraped it."

"Just keep practicing, you'll get better." Tifa nodded and smiled.

"Cloud!"

Both Cloud and Tifa turned at the cry. Aeris stood at the doorway, obviously having returned from the garage with Zack, and she looked terrified. Tifa could see her hands shaking. Cloud obviously noticed this too, as he looked anxious.

"What is it?" he asked slowly, knowing the answer wouldn't be good.

Aeris hesitated, as if trying to digest the news.

"The… the Ballas… they… they've set a bomb in the Weapons House… the Racers there can't disarm it!"

"What?" Cloud shouted in surprise, jumping up, oblivious to the pain in his leg for that split second. "How did they find it?"

"We don't know." Came Zack's voice. He stepped into the room, his mobile phone in his hand, looking very distraught. "But the Racers found the bomb, and if we don't get there and disarm it in 15 minutes, they're dead. The Ballas are hanging about and shooting anyone who comes out of the building.

"Well, what are we waiting for let's go! Zack, get the Mitsubishi ready."

Zack nodded and left the villa, but Aeris turned to Cloud, shaking her head.

"Cloud, you can't go. Your injured… you can't…"

"I can walk, Aeris," Cloud said, cutting her off. He walked to a cabinet by the television, limping slightly, and opened it to reveal several guns inside. He lifted to and put them in his side pockets. "That's good enough."

"Oh yeah, limping will be good enough when you're rushing to get clear of the blast," she argued, "With your injury you can't…"

"Fuck my injury Aeris!" he shouted, turning to face her. "My wound won't be shit compared to what will happen to the other Racers if that bomb goes off! Now if you would just shut the fuck up, we can go!"

Aeris glared at him before storming off. Cloud calmed down slightly before turning to Tifa.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Tifa nodded. "I'm part of the Racers now… I need to help as much as I can."

"Okay, but be prepared."

* * *

About 5 minutes later, the Mitsubishi was nearing the location of the Weapons House. Zack was driving flat out, and they'd had their share of close calls while they were swerving through the traffic. Tifa had to let out breath she wasn't aware she had been holding several times. Cloud and Aeris seemed unfazed. Tifa looked over at Cloud, who was in the back of the vehicle beside his, as he gazed out the window, a pensive look on his features. Tifa barely heard him mutter something as he was thinking.

"…not right."

"Cloud?"

Cloud turned at the voice and looked at Tifa, waiting for her to speak.

"What is it?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Something about this doesn't feel right."

"About the bomb situation?" Tifa asked, and she got a simple nod as an answer.

"Yo, what are you thinking, man?" Zack asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Don't you think it's strange that the Ballas left such a large time on the bomb? I don't get why they'd take such a big risk at it being disarmed." Cloud said, returning his gaze to outside the car window.

"Well… they'd need plenty of time to get clear. And they'd have to get their alibis sorted out."

"Why would they need such a large amount of time to get clear?" Tifa asked, confused. "The bomb won't do that much damage will it?"

"No," Zack answered, "But if you think in terms of a bomb and enough C4 to put a hole in the world going off together, you try to get as far away as you possibly can."

Tifa stayed silent, suddenly regretting her choice to tag along. Cloud however, didn't.

"Maybe… but there's something more. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, well… save your thinking until after you've nailed a few Ballas, cause we're gonna have to get down that barrier of gunman to get inside."

Cloud let out a small chuckle and started to load his weapon. Tifa looked down to the pistol in her hand, extremely nervous. She didn't know if she was ready for this yet. She didn't know if she was ready to kill. She felt Cloud put a hand on her shoulder.

"If you're worried… just aim for a hit… not a kill."

Tifa nodded, remembering him saying the same thing earlier that day. She quickly loaded the gun just as Zack skidded to a halt. The three experienced gangsters quickly got out the car, with Tifa a split second behind them. As soon as Tifa looked at the area they were heading to, she gasped. About a dozen bodies littered the street each of them surrounded by blood. Several of them had weapons beside them; others seemed to be bodies of pedestrians that got caught in the fight. The distant sound of guns being fired could be heard and several small explosions as well.

The four of them advanced, with Zack and Cloud in the lead, alert for any enemies. Several guns went off simultaneously, and a collection of bullets spread the ground near Cloud and Zack. The two instantly returned fire, their attackers being situated on the roof of a small building, and a shot from both of them took down one of their attackers. Tifa counted another three gunman on the roof and fired at them, catching one man on the shoulder. The injured Balla shot back, but Tifa ducked by instinct and the bullets flew over her. The gunman suddenly collapsed from a shot to the head, courtesy of Aeris. The two remaining Ballas fired at the four furiously but they had already taken cover in a nearby alleyway. Tifa turned to Cloud, intent on asking what they should do until she saw him pull out a bottle with a piece of paper inserted in the bottleneck. He took a lighter from his pocket and lit the piece of paper before walking out the alleyway and hurtling it at the Ballas. The two gunmen failed to notice the bottle until it was too late. The fire suddenly erupted furiously and exploded, igniting both men and sending them screaming and flailing in a desperate attempt to douse the fire surrounding them. Their screaming soon stopped and the four stepped into the open.

"What…" Tifa began to ask but Cloud cut her off.

"Petrol Bomb." He said simply. "The petrol inside the bottle explodes when the fire from the paper comes in contact."

Tifa nodded and they continued in the main battle area. There was one main building in the area that people were running out of but quickly being gunned down. Tifa guessed that it was the Weapons House, as she noticed a collection of snipers on the building opposite it.

"Fucking snipers!" she heard Zack curse. "We're never gonna get close enough to take them out!"

"And there's no way I can get them with petrol bombs from this distance." Cloud added.

Tifa looked around the area and spotted a ladder leading to the top of the opposite building, right behind the snipers.

"What if we use that ladder to sneak up behind them and take them out? We can use the petrol bombs to take out all of them."

Cloud nodded. "Aeris, Zack? Are you up for it?"

"Sure, no prob." Aeris said, putting away her gun. Zack followed suit and they both took a petrol bomb from Cloud. They quickly ran across the street and began to climb the ladder. They were soon out of sight, and all Cloud and Tifa could do was wait. Several minutes later, several screams were heard and the roar of fires could be heard. Cloud nodded to Tifa and she followed him as he neared the building. The once guarded building now had a dozen people surrounding the entrance. One of them spotted Cloud and ran towards him.

"Great timing Spike. They had us locked into the building with those snipers and the bombs gonna blow in a few minutes."

"Damn… okay, get everyone that's outside clear of the building. With all the C4 we have in there, they bang isn't gonna be pretty."

The Racer nodded and started shouting at everyone to get clear. Cloud watched the building carefully, his pensive look back on his face.

"Cloud, what are you waiting for?" Tifa hissed, quietly, "That bomb is gonna to go off any minute now."

"I don't understand." He whispered. He spoke a bit louder when he continued. "Why would they set such a long amount of time for the bomb _and _keep people near the bomb, when they could risk it being disarmed. They knew the people trapped inside would call for help and that would bring more Maria Racers to help them. And why would the snipers risk their lives… they could have been caught in the blast or been killed by the new Maria Racers. The more Maria Racers there are, the greater the danger number of people that could disarm the bomb or… a greater number of… victims… to get caught in the blast!"

"Shit! It's a trap!" Cloud shouted. "They're gathering the Maria Racers in one place so they get killed in the explosion! Tifa, tell everyone to run! Go!"

Tifa nodded and ran off to do so. Cloud looked for Zack, and saw him and Aeris running towards him. Zack quickly asked him what was happening and Cloud explained what he thought of the situation.

"Phone whoever is in there and tell them to evacuate, now!"

"Right!"

Zack started phoning the Maria Racers he knew were inside the building, while Cloud helped Tifa warn everyone to get clear. Zack came rushing to Cloud a few moments later.

"Cloud, some of them are refusing to come out."

Cloud silently cursed and grabbed the phone; dialling the number Zack had last called.

"What is it?" a deep voice answered.

"Get out of the building now! It's gonna blow any second." Cloud told him demandingly.

"Spike, I've almost got it disarmed, I just need another minute."

"That's a minute the bomb won't give us! Get out of there!"

"I'll be fine!"

Just as the two were arguing, Tifa ran up to them and listened.

"I'm telling you to get out of there! The place is gonna…"

A huge explosion from the weapons house suddenly cut off Cloud's warning. Fire billowed out in all directions and thick smoke erupted from the building. The force of the blast knocked all the nearby people off their feet, and the last thing Tifa Lockhart felt, was a large impact on her head before she fell into darkness.

* * *

Sorry for the long time for an update. I really didn't like this chapter and I constantly tried to fix it and make it better but nothing seemed to work. So I've just decided to post it. Plus the lack of inspiration problem doesn't help at all. So… any reviews, flames, questions, suggestions, ideas or strings of curses and insults in e-mail are welcome. Till next time.**__**

**Cloud's-Tifa-Strife** – Lol, I'm glad you liked it. Just wait till later in the fic, because once Tifa gets a bit more confidence (and weapons :D), she's gonna become a very kick ass girl.

**Kairi10223** – Thanks. I'm actually worried that I'll end up with a bad writer's block again and have a really big delay with this, but I will be avoided that at all costs. But I can easily say that I won't be stopping this fic. It's my main focus right now and I'm really determined to finish it. I'm glad you enjoyed my last chapter because I personally think it's the best chapter so far.

**cloudude** – Hey, good to hear from you again. And glad that you, and others, are finding this fic much better than before. I've been putting a bit more effort into this so that's my reward really. Thanks for reviewing. And ye, they will be going all round the San Andreas area, and maybe even areas outside it, I've not decided yet.

**Mel** – Stick in there and you'll do the mission eventually. I tried about 50 times (no joke) and I barely managed to pass it. I really enjoyed the training; it's a lot of fun. I especially like jumping out and parachuting. That totally rocks! And I'm desperate to play San Andreas again, but my friend has a loan of my game, plus it's almost scratched beyond playability, lol.

**TheNoLifeQueen** – Hey, you were actually mad enough to read this, lol. And, ye, I've rated this mature mostly for the swearing and violence so no little kiddies are allowed to read. I'm also glad you're enjoying this. Thanks for reviewing.


	6. Stricken

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Five:** Stricken

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Final Fantasy except a copy of the game that I play on my ever so faithful PS2. I also don't own anything from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in case you're wondering… which you probably aren't.

Note: - I know, I know… I took three months to update and I'm really pissed about that, but I must admit that this was the hardest chapter I've ever had to write. But it's also one of the biggest. Hope you enjoy. I'm getting my GTA: SA game back soon from my friend so Chapter 6 will definitely be out a lot sooner since I will most likely be getting more inspiration than I have this time round.

Thanks to the 15 people who reviewed, I love you all, lol. And a huge thanks to TheNoLifeQueen and Hipathya for putting this fic into their C2 archives. Check them out all you CloTi fans… cause they're both filled with fics of the couple. And check out the works of the authors themselves, ace stuff.

Now… I'm wondering if anyone has picked up the connection between the titles of each chapter ;)

-----

It's hard to describe how horrified and scared I was when the building exploded and when I saw what damaged it caused. I had expected the blast to cause some damage, but I was stunned to find it had been a lot worse than I had expected, a lot worse.

_I understood the Ballas' logic. With the Weapons house destroyed, the Racers had nothing to arm themselves with. That has probably been their intentions for setting the bomb. From what Cloud had guessed, it had also been hoped that many of the Maria Racers would go in to stop the bomb… that meant that a large portion of the gang would be killed in an instance. Obviously… not enough got killed from the blast…_

…_because what they did next… was horrifying._

_-----_

'Jeez… did someone get the number of that bus?'

Tifa couldn't help but think that as she stirred. Her head felt as if someone had hit her full force with a baseball bat. She didn't know exactly how that felt, but she was pretty sure it came somewhere close to the ache in her head. She parted her eyes slightly, only to shut them quickly to stop them stinging from all the dust and dirt that had covered her. She shook her head to clear the dirt off her face and opened her eyes wider than before.

Judging by the darkness and the heavy slabs above her, she guessed that she was buried in some of the debris from the explosion. Thanking her luck of not being crushed, she attempted to get up but she felt something weighing down on her legs, preventing her from doing so. Looking down, she saw that a slab of cement sat on her leg, but they were so numb that she could barely feel its presence. She soon managed to feel a slight movement from her feet, showing that her legs were still intact. She winced as she felt a stinging on the back of her head and reached round with her hand. She felt something in, or on, her hair… something wet. She brought her hand back round and strained to see what it was in the darkness. Blood… but she couldn't be sure. It was too dark to see the colour but she figured it was, considering it was at the area where her head ached the most.

Tifa sighed and rested her head on her arms, closing her eyes. She briefly wondered what to do next before a sound of movement caught her attention. Turning her head so she could look to her left, she managed to make out a figure nearby, rising to their knees, their head facing downward as they coughed. She heard them muttering a curse, recognising the masculine voice.

"Cloud?" she gasped out, tearfully. She couldn't figure out whether she was near tears due to sheer joy of finding someone that could get her out of there, or due to the increasing pain in her legs now that their numbness had started to wear off. The figure started at the voice and turned their head to look at her.

"Tifa?" he replied quietly. Tifa bit her lip when she heard how weak he sounded, but she managed to smile as he crawled closer, being careful in the tight space. When he got close enough, she was able to see his face through the darkness. He was breathing heavily, sounding extremely tired. His face was dirty but the right side of his head seemed to be bleeding. As he crouched next to her, his hand stroked the side of her face, shifting some of her hair away from her eyes. "Tifa, are you alright?"

She wasn't able to hold back the sob that escaped her as tears started to slide down her face.

"My legs… the pain… it hurts so much and… I can't move them." She whispered.

Cloud looked to her legs and saw what was wrong. Tifa watched as he leaned over and shoved a few things around. She soon felt the pressure on her legs lighten slightly as he attempted to free them. She heard him grunt from the effort and felt almost all the weight off her legs.

"Hurry and move your legs. Cover your mouth when you get free."

Tifa did so and got to her knees without hurting herself too much. She crawled forward and her a hand to her mouth, not very sure why he wanted her to do so. The sound of the cement hitting the ground heavily was soon heard and she also heard Cloud coughing when the dust spilled onto him. When things cleared, Cloud crawled over to where she was and smiled.

"C'mon. We'll need to find a way out of here, if we can't… we should at least find somewhere with more room to move."

Tifa nodded and followed him through a narrow space in the rubble. They had to squeeze through a similar crack a few moments later. Tifa found herself being aided quite often as they moved. More than once, they found themselves blocked by debris and had to shift somewhere else. Tifa began to feel panic rise up her chest as she thought of what might happen if they didn't escape. Both of them were breathing heavily from exhaustion but they kept moving, not daring to stay in one place in case something happened and the area caved in.

Eventually, the passage began to open out a bit more and it became easier to see. Cloud managed to rise into a crouch, eventually being able to stand. Tifa followed along silently but caught Cloud's attention when she stumbled and fell to her knees, panting. The combination of the pain, dust in her lungs and careful manoeuvring had really tired her out. She felt Cloud grab her waist and pull her to her feet. He held her as they continued, almost carrying her as she leaned into his chest. When they found their way blocked, some time later, Cloud lowered her to the ground, resting her against the wall and crouched down beside her. Her head was down, her breathing was heavy, and her body look badly battered. Cloud felt a surge of guilt for letting her get in this condition. He knew she was still conscious, but understood how exhausting the experience had been for her. She didn't look seriously injured, and that pleased him. He was glad that he had gotten the worst of their injuries, instead of her. It was his fault she was here in the first place.

"You okay?" he asked, again, his worry increasing in the silence.

Tifa smiled, tiredly, at his concern for her. Strangely, she was thankful of the fact he couldn't see it. She looked up to him as he crouched next to her, looking her over carefully.

"I'm fine. I'm… just tired from all that's happened today."

Cloud nodded understandingly and looked away to his left, surveying the area around them. Tifa finally got a clear vision at the right side of his face, now that there was light available, and her eyes widened. She had suspected that he had hurt his head but the sight of his injuries still surprised her.

A thick trail of blood seeped down his forehead and cheek, most of it starting to drip off his chin. Some of it had managed to stick some of his hair to his face, leaving it matted and wet. The blood was issuing from a deep gash that was almost completely hidden by his hair and another smaller cut below his eye. He didn't seem to notice much but Tifa couldn't help but worry.

"Cloud… you're hurt." She stated quietly. Cloud turned his head back and smiled slightly.

"I'm alright." He answered quietly.

Tifa wasn't satisfied but she stayed silent. Nothing was said for a few moments until she decided to ask the question that had been in her head for a while.

"How did this happen Cloud? We weren't inside any buildings… so shouldn't we have been safe from the rubble after the explosion?"

Cloud shook his head, and sighed.

"Not exactly. The buildings in this area are close together. So many of them may have been damaged in the blast. Some of the taller ones probably fell, which is why we're trapped underneath them… that's the only reason I can think of. But I know that if the debris collapses… there's gonna be a lot of it coming down on us. Which is why I'm hoping we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Tifa nodded and hugged her knees to her chest. Cloud, meanwhile, pulled his phone out of his pocket. He sighed in relief that it was still in good condition.

"Looks like I've got a bit of signal. I should be able to get a call through to Zack. Hopefully he managed to get out."

Tifa watched him as he stood and put the phone to his ear after searching for a number. He paced as he waited for an answer and Tifa noticed that he still had a slight limp due to his bullet wound. She watched him as he suddenly grabbed his head and he shut his eyes tiredly, before forcing them back open. Now she _knew_ something was wrong and was about to ask him again when she heard an answer from the opposite end of the phone.

Cloud listened to his friend as he spoke, sounding as though he was on the edge of a panic attack. He managed a small chuckle at how distressed he sounded. "I'm fine Zack." In the background, he heard Aeris screaming at Zack about Tifa. "Tell Aeris that Tifa's fine. She's right here with me." He paused to look at his companion and was pleased to see her resting where he had left her. "We're a bit battered and bruised from the explosion but we're okay mostly." He looked around them once again and sighed. "As for where we are… I don't have a clue. It looks we're quite deep into the rubble. And I can't find a way out from inside."

After listening to Zack for several moments, Cloud turned to Tifa once again.

"Can you look around and see if you can see anything from outside?" he asked. Tifa nodded and shakily stood. The light in the area was issuing from several cracks in the walls. As she went round, she peaked through each of them, unable to see anything. Finally, she managed to get a view of the area outside.

"Cloud… there's an red car need us, it's upside-down. I can't tell what make it is. And there's remains of a white building about 15 feet away."

Cloud nodded. "Did you catch that?" he asked into the phone. "Okay, and make it fast."

He flipped the phone shut and turned to Tifa, who was walking to him. He took a step towards her but stopped as he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He felt his legs buckle but was suddenly caught and Resonance lowered to his knees.

Tifa watched him as he clutched his head injury and shut his eyes. She couldn't stand seeing him like this and decided not to take any more risks.

"C'mon Cloud. You need to rest."

"No," he argued, "I'm alright. I'm just feeling light-headed. I'll be fine."

"Bullshit, Cloud!" she snapped at him, catching him by surprise. "Someone who is _fine_ doesn't fall and almost earn himself a nasty concussion."

Cloud didn't reply or struggle as Tifa helped him across the rubble. She lowered him down where she had originally sat and inspected his head. The bleeding had gotten worse and had begun to literally pour out of the wound. Reached round to the back of her new top, she tore off a piece of the elongated fabric and pressed it to his head. While holding her hand in place she looked at Cloud and saw him struggling to keep his eyes open. She ran her other hand down the side of his face and his unfocused gaze turned to her.

"Cloud… stay awake, please. Stay conscious. I don't know if you'll wake up again if you do."

He slowly nodded, his gaze returning to the floor. Tifa continued to watch him as he fought to stay awake. He looked so weak, so helpless. She hoped she could get him help soon.

A loud bang suddenly made her jump and she spun to look at the opposite wall of rubble. She could see cement shifting and some of the dust falling through. When she heard a familiar voice behind the debris, she grinned.

"Cloud? Tifa? You there?"

"We're in here, Zack!" she called back, unable to contain the glee in her voice. "Hurry, Cloud's not doing to well."

Tifa turned back to Cloud and crouched down beside him again. She ran a hand through the dry side of his hair as he lifted his head to look at her.

"We'll be out soon, Cloud. We'll get you some help."

Cloud smiled weakly and turned his attention to area that was being lifted away. Someone had begun to climb into the tight space that had become available and was eventually able to squeeze all the way through.

It was Aeris.

"Cloud! Oh my god! Are you alright?" she gasped as she ran to him. She kneeled down on his other side and lifted off the fabric that Tifa had been holding to his head. She couldn't hide her shock when she saw his wound and pressed the material to stem the blood flow once again.

"I'm dizzy." He whispered, wincing when Aeris put pressure against his head.

"It's okay, we're gonna get you help. Are you alright, Tifa?" Aeris asked her.

"I'm just tired and sore. Don't worry about me, it's Cloud who really needs help."

"Cloud! Tifa! Aeris!" Zack called as he came into the clearing. "C'mon, let's get you guys outta there!"

Aeris and Tifa stood as Zack came over and lifted Cloud to his feet. Tifa began to climb out of the clearing and was helped out by two surviving Racers, who each looked slightly battered. Aeris was helped out next, then Cloud, who was struggling to stay on his feet. Just as Zack came out, Cloud collapsed to his knees before being caught by one of the Racers.

"Cloud!" he called in surprise, attracting the attention of the others. Tifa and Aeris rushed over to them as the Racer lowered Cloud's limp body to the ground.

"Is he alright?" Tifa called as she neared them.

"He's fallen unconscious. We need to get him some help before he loses too much blood from his head injury."

"How long do you think he'll last without help?" Zack asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe an hour or two, three at most."

"What should we do? Cloud's a wanted person, so you can't exactly walk straight into a local hospital, can you?" Tifa asked.

"No, we can't," Zack answered, "But we know a classified doctor that can help him. He's a friend of Aeris' and Cloud's from when they were kids."

Just at that moment, Zack's mobile began to ring and he took it out of his pocket. He silently stood and walked away, putting the phone to his ear. Tifa kneeled down besides Cloud's unconscious form and lifted his head onto her lap. She wiped the dirt away from his wound, in an attempt to keep it clean. Aeris watched her quietly, noticing how tenderly she was handling him and how careful she was being not to hurt him, even though he wouldn't consciously feel it. She smiled sadly, knowing how much Tifa was determined to help.

Aeris turned when she heard Zack's quick footsteps. He looked extremely worried when he reached them and had to take a deep breath before speaking.

"I just got a call from some of the Racers that live at East Beach. They've just seen over two-dozen cars filled with Ballas heading north to Palomino Creek. Driving with them were several jeeps filled to the brim with, what looked like, some seriously heavy firepower. We think they're heading to the homes of the Racers up there, to total the amount of victims from the explosion and whatever damage they could do."

"We've gotta help them! The Racers there are too short on numbers to protect themselves against the Ballas." Aeris exclaimed.

"Aeris, we can't leave everyone here and risk another attack. And almost everyone here is wounded."

"Gather what Racers you can find that can fight," Tifa told them quietly, surprising them both, "Let the non-combatants get each other to safety. Take the seriously wounded with us, so we can get them help as soon as possible when we've beaten back the Ballas."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Zack said. He turned to face the collection of Racers that were rushing around behind them. He whistled once, attracting the attention of most of them. "Alright everyone. Gear up! Racers up north are in serious trouble and we're going to help them. Anyone who can fight can come with us. Those you can't fight should seek shelter to take care of your injuries. All those in need of urgent medical attention should be brought along until we can get them to Grove Street safely. Let's go!"

The activity of the Racers exploded in an instant, many of them rushing to the edges of the streets, most likely where their vehicles were situated. Zack came over and lifted Cloud's body, his arm over his shoulder and clutching it before getting a tight grip around Cloud's waist. He carried him back to the Mitsubishi, Tifa and Aeris close behind him. He eased his friend's body onto the back seats of the car before closing the door. He then rushed round to the driver's side and started the engine. Aeris was about to get into the back before Tifa stopped her.

"I'll take care of him Aeris. He took care of me after the fire… I want to repay him."

Aeris smiled, nodding, and joined Zack in the front. Tifa climbed in and once again lifted Cloud's head so that it lay in her lap. As the car engine roared to life, she picked up a small first aid kit off the floor. The Mitsubishi sped away from explosion site, following almost a dozen other cars as the drove as quickly as possible to the north of the city, in a race to get to their comrades before it was too late.

-----

Smoke was already rising from Palomino Creek as they neared. Aeris lifted a small Uzi from the side-pocket of the car and loaded it. She handed it back to Tifa, who was holding a wet cloth to Cloud's head. Tifa took it from her and nodded to Aeris, who had been watching her with a worried expression. She was determined not to hesitate at all during this conflict. She was part of the Maria Racers now… she had to help as much as she could. She had to protect as many people as she could. Cloud wouldn't be with her this time so she'd have to fight alone. This fact made her nervous but she knew that she wouldn't be able to depend on him forever.

She got shocked out of her pensive state when the car became airborne before crashing back to earth after a few moments. Glancing up at Zack, she noticed the look of fierce determination that owned his face. Now she knew why the trio of got along so well and why they were always together. Each was determined to protect their allies and friends. They were all determined to survive. Tifa briefly wondered if she would ever become so passionate about helping the Racers.

An explosion from a building several blocks away from their location caught her attention. In that instant, she knew that this attack would be extremely dangerous. Many people would die today, Racers mostly if the Ballas had as much heavy firepower as he feared they did. She swallowed a lump that had began to build up in her throat when she realised that she could very well be one of the people who died. She just hoped that Cloud's advice was enough to see her through.

Tifa suddenly noticed how her hand had unconsciously begun to stroke Cloud's face. She didn't know why… but it seemed like a natural action. Watching his unconscious form, she saw how peaceful he looked. It was strange to see, as, even when he was happy, there was an air of tenseness around him. Sleep, to Tifa, was a chance to let your mind rest from worry and perhaps fear. Maybe it was Cloud's way of escaping all the hardships that he went through each day. As her mind wandered, she wondered briefly if he was in a relationship, or if he had simply settled to having his friends around him.

"Tifa."

Tifa lifted her gaze from Cloud to Zack, who had kept his concentration on the road. He was several for several moments but spoke eventually, his voice quiet.

"Cloud's well being doesn't matter right now. Aeris, get the families of the Racers away from danger. They know you so they'll trust you. Take them to the woods near the farmlands. We'll organize things when things have settled down."

"What should I do?" Tifa asked, suspecting what she was going to be doing.

"Me and you will gather as many Racers, that are able to fight, as we can. We need to force the Ballas back."

Tifa nodded silently, lifting Cloud head off her lap and laying him on the seat. Zack pulled to a stop and they jumped out the car. Aeris immediately raced off to the opposite street while Zack and Tifa rushed straight into the firing line.

Zack let off a single shot as he ran, puncturing someone in the chest. The Ballas nearby retaliated to their fallen comrade and they both had to dive for cover as bullets rained over there heads. Several Racers where perched on the balcony of the building behind them and they quickly disposed of the Ballas. Tifa ran up to the bodies when it was clear and snatched up a weapon. She took out two opponents that had been ready to attack a group of wounded Racers and shot another in the stomach as he tried to shoot her.

She caught the sound of something rushing through the air somewhere above her. A small explosion from a building across the street knocked her off her feet. Zack shouted something from behind her and she raised her head to see a Balla rising from their position behind a car.

Still slightly dazed from the blast, she let off a clumsy shot at him, the bullet striking his shoulder, spinning him round. When he regained his balance, he raised his gun at Tifa, furious and bleeding. His head suddenly jerked to the side as it was blasted and his body fell limp to the ground. Tifa caught sight of an armed figure at the corner of her eye. They continued to move forward, not slowing even as they had taken the shot. The figure looked strangely like… Cloud.

She stared in surprise at his advancing form, noticing his steady, determined stride. He didn't falter from any of his wounds and no longer showed any signs of weakness that he had earlier. He seemed set on an objective and Tifa could tell that no injury was going to stop him. When she saw his face, it held only one emotion.

Rage.

Tifa didn't need Aeris or Zack to tell her that Cloud was about to do something irrational, her gut instinct was busy scratching and embedding that fact into her brain. She ran after him, hoping to the catch him before he got hurt again. She watched as he shot nearby opponents automatically when they appeared.

As he passed the body of another Balla, he scooped up the fairly large weapon beside it. Tifa noticed another one nearby him and she paused to inspect it as she passed. She gasped when she realised what it was. She wasn't an expert at recognising weaponry, but she had seen enough action movies in her life to know what it was.

"A Rocket Launcher! Cloud… oh my god… no!"

Sprinting after him, she managed to catch him just before a set of stairs leading to the roof of a flat. She clutched his arm and tried to stop him.

"Cloud please, you can't use that Rocket Launcher here. You're gonna kill dozens of people, probably some of the Racers. Please, don't!"

But he kept walking forward, as if he didn't here her voice or feel her touch. His arm jerked out of her grasp as if she hadn't touched him at all. He was like a shell… oblivious to anything and everything around him. As she watched him walk away, Tifa stood, shocked at his behaviour, scared. Out of all the things he could have been doing, she didn't expect anything like this. She never expected to see him this heartless in his objective.

She followed him up the stairs to the room. He walked to the edge, rested the RPG on his shoulder. Tifa walked up behind him but kept her distance, not knowing exactly what he was doing. He stared at the fight below them, as if waiting for something. Tifa walked to the edge as well and saw what was happening.

As Zack had planned, after gathering a group of Racers, they were beating the Balas back. Many of them were rushing to their vehicles to escape.

Tifa saw Cloud raise the RPG and suppressed a scream of surprise when he fired. Among the mass of cars that were trying to escape was one of the jeeps that had carried all their weapons. The grenade hit its target, causing the jeep to explode, many of the cars being destroyed by the fire and, in turn, exploding them. Those who had been behind the blast, swerved dangerously to avoid crashing, most of them doing so fairly successfully. The Ballas now hastened their retreat back to Los Santos and Tifa breathed a sigh of relief.

She watched Cloud carefully as he gazed at the destruction. She suddenly realised that she didn't know this person. This was not the person who had saved her, protected her and instructed her in the ways of a life of bloodshed and survival. This was not the friendly, protective and careful Cloud that she, Aeris or Zack were familiar with.

This Cloud… was an iced killer.

-----

The ending to this chapter is one of the hardest I've written so far… whew. Sorry if it seems rushed but I was desperate to get this updated this week. Next update WILL come sooner than this one, but not for at least two weeks. I have my GSCE preliminaries to sit, which start on Monday. I will be starting Chapter Six as soon as I post this so I'll get updated as soon as possible.

**Cloud's-Tifa-Strife** – Cloud and Tifa won't be getting together for a while, but they will definitely be a couple. It just wouldn't be me if I didn't have them together. And yes, Tifa is gonna be very kick ass with a huge range of weapons. I've got one particular scene in mind where Tifa grabs a RPG for herself, but I won't say any more 

**cloudude – **Thanks for pointing out that there were mistakes in there. I'll be sure to check my work more thoroughly next time.

**Gangsta213 – **New reader? Don't worry… this fic will be completed. No matter how long it takes.

**TheNoLifeQueen – **Hehe… I guess kiddies will be able to read this now that M fics are allowed on C2's. And yes, I noticed you enjoy a little Hentai now and then. I do myself. I may do a scene, I've thought about it quite a lot whether to have one or not… but it won't be anytime soon. Gonna let things calm down a bit and that won't happen for a while :D

I also noticed you have an account on Live Journal as your old username, eveee90. Nice to see another familiar face there, cause I noticed a comment on Hybrid Rainbow's story 'No Regrets' from you. Her stories kick major ass.

**Masterlink – **Thanks. I'm glad you like this.

**Hipathya – **Lol, that's one butt kicking I would deserve cause I'm taking far too long to update IMO. I'm not very sure of the plot to be honest. There's still a lot of things I haven't decided on and I'm worried that it might effect my rate of updates, as if they're not bad enough already.

**Lunarious Luna – **Lol, that's a good kick I need btw. Sorry if this took too long, I'll update faster next time hopefully.

**Mel – **Hey, you managed to review. Lol, not many people ask to borrow my games, since to them I have very bad taste in video games XP

**Joseph Wright – **Yo, you reviewed. Cheers. I love your story dude because it's brilliant. My main influence is also The Fast and The Furious. The movies are awesome.

**Asuka-Kazama-Mishima-Doo san – **Thanks, and yes, I do like San Andreas. But I prefer Vice City. Tommy is super cool and his smart-arse attitude is great.

**Jessica Holmes – **JESSIE! You reviewed!

I tend to like stories where they meet for the first time. It lets you adjust their personalities better, I think. Most post-game ones are really cliché and have Cloud wound up in guilt over Aeris. Those are getting far too frequent IMO.

And I think my writing has really improved since my first fic. Shame it takes me ages to update though.

Can't wait 'til your next e-mail :D

**hitsugaya-kun – **Thanks for reading.

**Baby-Inu2000 – **I love adding in little actions like that. It's actually something I used to do to my step-dad when he was sleeping, just to annoy him. But usually it consisted of me jumping on his stomach instead of sitting, LOL.

**Ashley – **Thanks.

**Freek Style Noypi – **Lol, it's good to see that your still normal Roxie. An Oscar? I wouldn't go that far. But thanks for the compliment :)

**fatomi – **I was actually close to finishing the chapter when you reviewed, lol. Sorry to keep you waiting so long.


	7. Trouble

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Six: **Trouble

Poor quality chapter, in my opinion. I'm extremely sorry for the yearlong writer's block I've had to endure.

* * *

_I didn't like seeing the Cloud I saw that day. Or any of the times afterwards. He frightened me. And the fear did not lift, even as we fought together. It seemed to increase, as I tread carefully as to not set him off. I had no idea what he was capable of. _

_How many people had stared into that face? The emotionless face that he had carried that day. He seemed like a shadow of his former self. It was like a transformation. From someone human, to something heartless and cold. What was it like for his enemies to face something, someone, that seemed so madly driven by hate and anger?_

_Hopefully I would never have to face that side of Cloud. I prayed that I would never._

* * *

The atmosphere in Zack's vehicle was extremely tense as they drove to pick up Aeris. With Zack driving, looking no worse for the wear after the fight except for a bruised jaw where someone had punched him, and Tifa in the passenger seat. Cloud sat alone in the back, silent, having not said a word since he had regained consciousness. Tifa didn't dare talk about what had happened; she didn't know would happen to her if she did. His behaviour had shocked her beyond words. The thought of Cloud as an emotionless, merciless murderer was difficult to comprehend, considering the kind nature she had experienced. Zack didn't seem to be bothered by his actions. This, in turn, scared her even more. After seeing Cloud's darker side, she was afraid to even imagine Zack and Aeris behaving in the same way. With a shake of her head, she quickly dismissed the thought, realising that she may, once again, be judging them too quickly.

The silence was becoming uncomfortable and Tifa soon started to fidget. After a brief fix of her hair and a shift in her seat, she settled to twiddling her thumbs. She looked out her window and watched as cars drove passed and behind them. After the Ballas had retreated, all of the surviving Racers had joined them to pick up their families and also to move elsewhere as to not risk another attack. Zack had decided to leave the decision of where to send the Racers until they had all gathered.

Tifa caught the expressions of some of the Racers as they drove by. They wore expressions of grief, anger, pain and defeat. She felt sympathy for them, knowing that many of them had lost something precious. They had just lost friends, family and their homes. Tifa knew the pain that it brought, and the guilt… the guilt of being helpless to stop it.

But, even having an idea of what they were going through, Tifa felt alienated from the others. She was from a totally different world than these people. She didn't belong here. But they accepted her, nonetheless. They hadn't treated her like an outsider, though she thought they would. They had protected her, helped her, and she had just had a chance to return the favour. In the end, her help had not made much difference.

She remembered seeing all the bodies around her after the shoot-out. All of them had been fighting… fighting for survival, and perhaps more.

'How many couples lost their lovers or children today?' Tifa thought as another wave of guilt washed over her. 'How many children lost their parents? How many people lost friends?'

Zack suddenly cut the car to the right, moving off the freeway and onto a dirt track, following the other drivers. He revved the car harder as they neared a steep hill and it rode up without a hassle. Tifa felt herself being pushed onto her chair before leaning forward slightly as the land flattened out.

"Where are we going?" Tifa asked, finally breaking the unbearable silence.

Zack acknowledged her question but did not answer for several moments as he turned a sharp corner on the track.

"There are some empty cottages at the top of the hill." He replied quietly, "The families of the people living nearby are instructed to hide there if their safety is ever threatened. That's where Aeris will have taken them."

Tifa nodded to his answer and turned to look round at Cloud. He just sat there, head rested against the back of the chair, turned slightly to watch out the window. Tifa stared at his face, waiting to catch a hint of what he might be thinking, but his blank expression showed nothing. She took note of his head wounds and noted that the bleeding had lessened greatly, but they still needed to be taken care of. She watched him as his eyes drooped suddenly but he fought them back open.

Tifa jerked when the car came to a sudden halt, and the rumbling of the engine became silent. Zack sighed, quickly glancing at Cloud before exiting the car. Tifa did the same, stepping out into the open area.

Tall trees and shrubbery surrounding the area, bordering the clearing where six moderately sized cottages stood. A collection of roughly thirty woman and children stood waiting, all of them perking up at their arrival. Tifa ran her eyes over them, spotting a few women whose red eyes indicated they had been crying, and seeing that the majority of them were unharmed, those that were had minor injuries. As the last car pulled up, the woman and children split to greet the Racers, looking for their loved ones.

"Zack!"

Zack and Tifa turned at Aeris' cry to see her running towards them, reaching up to wrap her arms around Zack's neck. He returned the hug and stroked her hair, feeling her shudder as she silently sobbed onto his shoulder.

"Thank god you're okay." She gasped. "When I heard the explosion I thought…"

Zack nodded, knowing what she meant. "I know, I'm alright. Tifa and Cloud are too."

Aeris lifted her head away and nodded. "That's good."

Several of the Racers had come round to Aeris and Zack. Eventually, the majority of them had gathered around the couple. Tifa stood among them feeling strangely out of place.

"I heard Spike was injured. How's he doing?" asked a random member of the group.

"He's alive, but we'll need to get him and the rest of the injured some help if we're to keep our numbers up."

Another member stood forward, looking extremely worried. "What can we do about our families? I don't think any of us wants to be subjected to an attack like that again, and having our families put in jeopardy."

A murmur of agreement ran throughout the group. Tifa stood quietly, knowing what Zack had in mind and how these recent events were shaking the Maria Racer's confidence in their chances against their rivals.

Zack sighed heavily. "Let's deal with the situation we have now. We'll take the wounded to the hospitals. Hopefully they'll be patched up without any hassle, and then we can decide what to do from there. I don't think it's likely the Ballas will try anything soon. From what I can gather, they lost a lot of people too. So we'll assume that we're safe for now. Once we have everyone who requires medical attention to secure locations, you can all work on relocating your families. I suggest somewhere desolate and outside Los Santos, as far from the conflict as possible. Let's get moving."

The Racers nodded, the majority of them heading back to their cars. Tifa thought she ought to wait for Aeris and Zack and moved towards the Mitsubishi.

Tifa sighed heavily, feeling her exhausted body scream for rest. She wandered back to the car and opened the door to the back passenger seat. She began to climb in, stealing a glance at Cloud, when she noticed him slouched against the window, his eyes closed and his blood from his wounds once again running swiftly down his face. She gasped loudly and shot up to get out the car, banging her head on the roof in the process.

"Zack! Aeris!" she called, eyes darting to locate them, her hand rubbing her temple. Her call had attracted their attention. They broke off their conversation and sprinted over, knowing something was wrong due to the urgency of her cry. They took one look at Cloud and knew they had to act fast.

"C'mon…" Zack urged, "We need to get him some help."

* * *

The café was bustling with dozens of customers, a chorus of voices echoing through the room. It was so loud that the capped figure, seated at the table nearest the door, almost failed to here his mobile ring. He put the phone to his ear, and decided to get straight to business, already knowing who it was.

"How did it go?" he asked in a hushed voice, making sure no one around him would here.

"Twenty Racers kills in total during the explosion," the voice across the phone told him, "and many more injured. But Spike survived. He figured it out and ordered an evacuation. You told us they wouldn't realise that it was a trap."

"How was I supposed to know that your men would give it away?" he growled angrily.

"We based our attack on what you told us, since you know how his mind works. No matter, we took our own steps to ensure we'd taken out as many as possible."

"You were responsible for what happened at Palomino Creek!" His hand raised to cover his open mouth, masking his shocked expression. "I told you to keep their families out of this! You know that Spike will kill me if he finds out I'm helping you." The fear was evident in his voice. He knew how merciless Spike was when he was angered, and knew that he wouldn't kill him swiftly. He'd rip him limb from limb and leave him to bleed.

"Give us the Racers, and we will ensure that will never happen."

'That bastard is loving this,' he thought. He knew how hard it was for him to betray them, and he knew that his contact would revel in the knowledge that he was suffering emotionally. He could see the smirk through his voice, and his fear soon turned to anger, and then frustration. He didn't have a choice.

"…Alright. I'll organise something. I'll send you the details in two weeks."

"One week. We have all of our forces moving from Las Venturas soon. You can guarantee me that their arrival will mark the end of the Maria Racers."

The phone-line went dead and he quickly closed his phone, banging his fist on the table, startling many of the people around him. The majority of those near him moved away cautiously but he didn't notice, his

"Damn." He hissed, as he stood and quietly slipped out the entrance onto the streets of San Fierro.

* * *

"If he rests up for a while, he should be okay."

Zack nod went unseen as he watched his friend finish applying the dressing to Cloud's head which, once again, rested on Tifa's lap as she sat on the couch.

The four had travelled to Dillimore, a small village on the border of Los Santos. It was one of the few towns on the island that wasn't territorial of a gang, and it made a suitable place for them to seek shelter. The town was home to one of Cloud and Aeris' childhood friend's, Matt Asa, who was a qualified doctor and had once worked in a hospital in San Fierro. He had gotten involved with a drug-abusing girlfriend and had become an addict himself when she died of an overdose, which in turn lost him his job. As far as Tifa could tell, from what he had told her, is that he had been reunited with Cloud and Aeris barely over a year ago and, after cleaning himself, decided to use his medical knowledge to assist the Racers when any of them were left with wounds that were beyond their capabilities to mend.

Matt sat down on a single chair, opposite the rest of the group. Zack and Aeris sat together on a two-seater, each with worried expressions about recent events.

"So… care to fill me in with the details?" Matt asked, noticing this.

Zack let out a shaky sigh. "We got a call about the bomb. When we got up there… Ballas were lined at the entrances of the streets. There were also snipers shooting at anyone who exited the warehouse. After we downed them, it took us a minute to realise they were there to keep the Racers secured inside the building. Cloud ordered an evac but the bomb went off before everyone could get to safety."

"No shit," Matt interrupted, "I saw the news just before you came. The bomb was in the explosives room and the blast spread to the next street behind it. 45 people, in total, killed."

"Oh my god…" Aeris gasped in horror. Tifa was too horrified to utter a sound. Zack sunk his face into his hands and cursed harshly.

"Cloud will not be happy when he finds out." Matt said quietly.

"Scratch that…" Zack muttered, "He's gonna be devastated. Not to mention furious."

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, knowing that there was another reason for Cloud's possible anger.

Aeris shook her head sadly. "Only specific Racers know where the explosives room was in the warehouse. Only people Cloud trusts."

Tifa shook her head as she realised. "You mean…" she hesitated, "A traitor?"

The others nodded grimly as she said what they were all thinking. Tifa looked down at her hands, suddenly feeling a desperate fear of Cloud. Only people he trusts…

"Don't worry Tifa."

Tifa snapped her head up, looking at Aeris. She nodded, a small smile on her face.

"You don't have to worry or get scared. Cloud knows that you knew nothing. He won't suspect you in any way."

Tifa sighed in relief and looked down at Cloud as he slept on her lap. "When should we tell him?"

"I'd recommend telling him soon after he's woken up." Matt suggested, "He hates being kept in the dark about things."

Tifa nodded, not looking up from Cloud's sleeping form.

"So what are we going to do now?" she heard Aeris ask.

"Well… we could…" Zack started.

Tifa heard little else, her focus solely on the injured man in her lap. He was already hurt so much that she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It was stupid she knew but she couldn't help it. At this time, he was physically weak. She wondered if the news about the traitor would strike a heavy blow where no physical strike could touch him.

* * *

"Sir, we've just had word that the kills have been totalled. 20 killed from the bomb explosion and approximately 35 killed at Palomino Creek. We've lost a lot of people also, but Delani just called confirming that they have finished preparations to come to Los Santos."

Silence met the young man's confirmation and after waiting nervously for several moments, he slowly backed out of the dark room.

The silent occupant allowed himself to smile, the anticipation of the events to come almost becoming unbearable. The clicking of the silent chamber from his gun was the only noise that managed to keep him calm.

"We're almost ready to make our final move."

* * *

Tifa sat silently as she let her mind wander. She thought of everything that had happened. It had all happened soon after the attack on her home, but the reason for everything was something that eluded her and the others completely. If the Ballas were doing this of their own will, they could have done it long before. Why now?

Zack and Aeris had left to visit the hospitals, most likely checking on some of their friends from the Racers. Matt was somewhere… she hadn't really been listening to what everyone was talking about. She had been too busy thinking about her involvement with the Racers and her future with them. She swore to get revenge for her father… but… could she do it? Could she find his assassinator? More importantly… would she survive to see it through?

She knew that she would have to be careful about what she did in the future. Conflict was mandatory, unavoidable. At this point, did she have the skills to survive? She doubted it… she was still green. But she knew that Cloud, Zack and Aeris would do the best they could to show her the ropes. They would do their best to protect and help her. She already owed them more than she could ever repay.

Cloud suddenly shifted in her lap and she heard him moan softly. He was starting to stir. She softly placed her hand on his cheek, feeling him jump slightly. She stroked his cheek, being careful to avoid his wounds. He leaned slightly into her soft touch, and Tifa smiled.

'_Just like a small child.'_

He slowly opened his eyes, trying to get them in focus as he took in his blurry surroundings.

"Tifa?"

Tifa smiled again and nodded. "Yeah I'm here. We're at Matt's home. We came to get you patched up."

He winced slightly and clutched his forehead with his hand. "My head hurts."

"No shit." Tifa laughed softly.

He sat up slowly, Tifa softly pushing him to help. He winced again as pain shot through his aching body. He shook his head as he sat straight on the seat.

"What happened?" he asked.

Tifa looked at him strangely. Did he not remember what he did at Palomino Creek?

They suddenly heard someone enter the house. Aeris eventually appeared at the door and smiled as soon as she saw both of them.

"Cloud! You're awake." she gasped, rushing over to hug him. He lightly hugged her back, still feeling quite sore.

"Cloud…"

It was Zack, standing at the door with Matt just behind him. Both wore very grim expressions and Cloud instantly knew something was wrong.

"What it is?" he dared to ask. The reply wasn't going to be good, he could tell.

Zack sighed and scratched his head. "There are a few things you should know."

* * *


	8. The Human Stain

**Gang Welfare:** by spikestrife  
**Chapter Seven:** The Human Stain

Holy heck the update is here. I've made you wait long enough... enjoy.

* * *

_This would be the day that we would strike back. We'd had enough. The Ballas had to know that we wouldn't take these attacks sitting down. We had to show that we still had the strength the defend ourselves, our families and our friends. And I had to begin my revenge on the murder of my father. And The Racers had to take revenge on the murder of their loved ones._

_Too long had the Ballas been a thorn in their side. Too long had they been a dark cloud hanging over their heads. Too long had they mercilessly murdered their families. We had decided that we would no longer let the Ballas get away with their actions._

_They were going to pay._

* * *

Aaron Lewis was bored. Very bored. He'd fallen asleep twice in the past 4 hours, unable to find anything interesting to keep his attention. A dozen or so monitors in front of him buzzed with images from surveillance cameras around the building. A quick glance at his watch told him it was almost 9pm. Darkness had already engulfed the rooms of the buildings and it was almost the end of his shift. A friend of his, Jonathan, was due him a pint afterwards. But until then he had a job to do.

And this job included spotting a group of four wandering casually through one of the corridors.

Aaron perked up at the sight and silently watched as two of the group stopped and looked round, keeping watch as the other two walked off-screen. The pair on-screen stood still for several moments before the screen went blank.

Aaron jumped and instantly reached for the phone next to him to report the intruders. He paused, however, when another screen cut off. Then another. And another. Suddenly everything went dark.

And the phone wasn't working either.

Jonathan was nearby to where Aaron was. Maybe he knew what had happened.

"Jonathan, come in!" he called through the radio. Static was his reply. He tried again. No answer.

Now he was nervous.

He dared himself to stand up and quickly searched blindly across a desk to find his gun. Finding it, and loading it, he quietly stepped out the door and looked round but he couldn't see anything. He stealthily proceeded down the hallway, heading to where he knew Jonathan was posted.

As he stepped round a corner, blood was the first thing he saw, followed by Jonathan's hacked body. The body was barely recognisable through the scarlet liquid that covered it and he could see a gaping wound in the chest of the corpse. Horrified and close to panic, he stepped back intent on setting the emergency alarm.

But as he stepped back, he heard a sickening slicing sound that made him freeze and he numbly stood there for what seemed like an eternity, before excruciating pain began to rise up his torso. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream and his arms twitched as he attempted to move but his muscles refused to listen. Looking down, the broadside of a blade was sticking out of his chest. His legs weakened and his back arched, his eyes wide as the blade was removed, feeling it slice painfully through bone and tissue.

His energy left his legs and he collapsed to his knees as the group of people calmly walked past him. The last thing he saw before he fell forward into eternal darkness was the final figure looking down at him as they walked by, a blade in their right hand dripping with his blood, their blue piercing eyes bright and emotionless.

* * *

Tifa had endured too many awkward silences recently for her to count. But the silence that had followed when Zack had spilled everything to Cloud had ripped her to the very core of her being. It wasn't helped by the look of anguish he had when the numbers had totalled.

Eighty dead, nine of them children, and thirty wounded, a dozen critical.

Tifa was feeling grief also. She wept endlessly that night, the exhaustion of the day falling on her entirely when she collapsed into her bed that night. So many had died... too many. They had gone back later that day to gather the bodies. She had found herself staring at the bodies of the small children she found, the youngest looking around 3 years old. Her tears hadn't stopped until all the bodies had been collected and transported.

The Racers had held several funerals for those killed already. They had all attended several of them and, even though she knew none of the victims, she had found herself in floods at every one. They were desperate to vent their emotions by destroying the bastards back for what they had done.

That's why they were here.

Aeris stood five feet away from her, facing down the corridor with her gun raised. She turned her head, nodding to Tifa, who edged forward silently, her gun raised also. Tifa stood poised at the turn in the hall while Aeris walked to her side. The two jumped around the corner to find it deserted, but they kept their guns raised. With the power cut, the Ballas probably realised this was an attack. Both of them edged down the corridor as lightly as they could, wary of all the sounds around them. Tifa occasionally turned to survey behind them. The last thing they needed was to be at the receiving end of a sneak-attack.

A door to their left stood slightly ajar. Aeris tipped her gun to the door, indicating that Tifa should search it while she continued down the hall. They were searching for the guard rooms and emptying them, the last of which was located on their present floor. Not knowing exactly which room meant that they had to sweep every room, and as they completed the search of each one, Tifa felt her nervousness rise. It was far too quiet. As she pushed open the ajar door, she kept her finger on the trigger ready for defending herself. The others had told her to avoid using her gun as much as possible, since the shots would bring the Ballas to their positions.

As she stepped through, she saw the pile of monitors at the opposite end of the room. Continuing forward past the frame of the door, she heard no sounds of movement or saw anything. She froze, however, when she saw a pistol lying on the desk by a computer, seeing its empty clips nearby. Someone had been here, but they'd seen no one leave the corridors. They were here somewhere. Her heartbeat thumped through her head. Lowering herself slowly, she went to reach for her dagger. The door creak behind her and she tried to turn. She gasped as a strong arm wrapped round her throat and tightened, lifting her off her feet. Her gun went of in her shock and she attempted remove the arm from around her throat. She struggled furiously, recognising the sleeper hold, knowing she had moments before she would likely pass out. Trying to turn her gun toward her attacker, she felt his other arm grab her wrist and clutch her arm to her chest, immobilising her use of her firearm. She brought her leg up behind her strongly, her heel driving into the man's crotch. He grunted in pain and bent forward, almost allowing her to reach the ground. Unfortunately he recovered quickly, falling back into the door, the slam of it shutting echoed through her head and his arm clutched her throat even more.

"Fucking bitch" he growled.

Her chest tightened as her body fought to get air. She tried to scream but only managed to release a feebly gasp. Panic started to set in as she realised she couldn't get free, and Aeris hadn't heard the shot. She couldn't even reach the blade in her boots. She was defenceless. She was going to die.

A dull thud and a disgusting slicing sound resounded behind her. Her attackers arms went limp and she fell to the floor, coughing uncontrollably, her chest still painfully tight. Her body felt so weak, and a headache built up at the back of her skull. She looked up at her attacker and froze.

A grey, steel blade had passed through the door, his skull and out the front of his forehead, blood trickling down his face, reddening the whites of his eyes. His eyes wide, a shocked expression that mirrored her own, he looked as though he was still surprised as to what had happened. She doubt he'd lived long to figure it out. By his side, his arms twitched horribly, like his body was considering reaching up to feel what had exited from his forehead.

Tifa felt slightly sick but at the same time she felt her hatred rise for the man who had tried to kill her.

There was another sounds of slicing through watermelon as the blade retracted through the door. The corpse in front of her fell feebly to the floor with a thud as the door opened. Cloud entered the room, heading straight to her, dropping his blood-soaked sword by the door, concern etched over his features. Still lying on the floor and weak, she let him lift her to her feet and clutched her to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he lightly stroked the back of her head.

"Are you all right? I didn't think we'd make it in time." he whispered in her ear.

It might have been because of the shock of her attack, the proximity she had to the killing blow, the energy that had drained out of her body, or it may have simply been the relief she felt to have had Cloud save her from her death once again. Her entire frame began to shake violently. Tears slipped unwillingly from her eyes and she felt a sob building in her throat. She shook her head lightly and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She refused to be scared and weak any more.

"I'm all right now," she said shakily, "Just relieved."

Cloud pulled back from her enough to see her face but still be able to hold her. He wiped away her tears and gave her a faint smile.

"Being scared when your struggling for your life, doesn't make you weak Tifa."

Tifa looked at him, with tear-filled eyes. Of course, he knew. Cloud had been fighting for survival his entire life. He had been scared of dying many times, maybe even now he was scared. She gave him a weak smile, which he returned. Kissing her forehead lightly, he pulled back and looked round the room.

The monitors around the room all displayed plain black screen savers, save one. Cloud made his way toward it, Tifa in tow. He quickly scanned the contents of the screen, seeing a window for a .png image and several documents, but what caught his interest most was the e-mail still covering most of the screen. The topic of the e-mail was blank, but it was the contents that made his blood run cold.

It was forwarded mail containing a table filled with names, addresses, numbers and a following list of names, three or four allocated to a single initial name. Cloud tried to catch his breath as he realised what he was looking at, Tifa noticing his distress.

"Cloud? Cloud, what's wrong?" she asked nervously. Having seen Cloud keep his cool in a gun fight and when being hunted to be killed, she instantly knew that if something was to cause him so much distress, it was serious.

She looked over his shoulder and skimmed down the table. She gasped as she saw three names on the list... Cloud Strife, Zack Tigard and Aeris Gainsborough. She saw the address of the villa next to each and a single name next to each of them. Zack and Aeris were listed with each others names but next to Cloud's was...

Rain Strife.

Aeris' and Zack's listed their lover, each other, so... was she... Tifa shook her head, refusing to finish that thought. The slight foreign twinge of jealousy was enough to convince her not to pry. Instead, she looked over the list again and, while selfish, she let out her breath as it became clear her name wasn't included. The fact that she was alive and within the ranks of the Maria Racers seemed to have, for now, been unnoticed. The relief soon passed as she realised what it meant for a member of the Ballas to have gained this information. Cloud, simultaneously, voiced her realisation.

"This changes everything. We thought they had only found one of our most populated residential areas, but now they have the locating of every single member of the gang. They could hit a large group that are close to one another or worse, take us out discretely one by one. This must be why the Ballas have stayed quiet after the last attack. They're planning something else. Probably something big. Shit."

Cloud typed in several commands before grabbing a CD-ROM from the computer desk and placing it in the drive. He began to transfer the data to the disc, adding more as he found other data on The Racers, Ballas and other gangs around Los Santos. By the looks of the data, the Ballas were looking to wipe out each gang throughout Los Santos, and even San Fierro and Las Venturas. They were going to gain control of all of San Andreas. There was no telling what they had planned for after they got control. Tifa knew they had to be stopped at all costs, and felt nervousness rise as it sunk in just how dangerous it would be. She looked at Cloud who was reading through various e-mails on the computer.

He would lead this fight, there was no doubt about it. But she understood that it wouldn't be simply a shoot-out between the gangs. Already it was clear there was a traitor among the Maria Racers, maybe more than one, and their numbers were depleted from the last attack. They couldn't beat the Ballas on their own. Cloud couldn't do it on his own. She just hoped that she would survive to see it through with him. She owed him that much.

The data transfer complete, Cloud removed the CD-ROM and placed it in a random case before handing it to Tifa.

"Keep that safe." he said quietly, "We need to search what's on it, see if we can find out what they have planned."

Tifa nodded as Cloud returned the screen to its original state. Just as he finished shots resounded through the building from the floor above. Cloud instantly ran from the room, grabbing his sword as he bolted past. Tifa followed, barely keeping up as they sprinted to the stairwell. Both drew and loaded their pistols as they reached the top. Entering the corridor, Tifa heard the sounds of a struggle in the furthest room. Cloud got to the room first, opening fire as soon as he moved through the door frame. Two yells of pain sounded just as Tifa arrived in the room. Zack was holding up a Ballas member by the throat against the wall, blood trickling down his left arm, while Cloud was crouched over Aeris who lay motionless on the floor. Tifa scanned the room, noticing two bodies of the floor, bullet holes in their temples, their gun lying next to their bodies. As she stepped through Zack suddenly released the man's neck and he crumpled to the floor, gasping for air.

Zack dragged his captive along the floor by his leg to a chair in the corner. He roughly lifted the man onto the chair and punched him across the cheek. The man's head rolled on his shoulders, dizzily. Zack's expression was filled with rage as he noticeably struggled to hold back the temptation to kill him. He leaned over the stunned man and whispered aggressively in his ear. Tifa figured he was trying to gain information but she knew it wouldn't be easy.

Tifa rushed to Aeris' side beside Cloud and looked her over. Blood ran down the side of her face and pooled the floor from a gunshot through her shoulder, her face pale from significant blood loss, her eye bruised from a blow that most likely knocked her out. Her knuckles were bleeding and her gun lay across the floor, showing that she'd put up a good fight, most likely before Zack arrived to help her. Cloud pulled off his jacket and then removed his shirt before turning Aeris onto her back and tying his shirt around her shoulder to cover the wound. Her body jerked as he tightened the makeshift bandage but she didn't wake.

"We need to get her medical attention before she losses too much blood. She should be okay for now, though."

He grabbed his jacket before standing, Tifa doing the same, and as he swung his jacket back on Tifa couldn't help but watch his movements intensely. His thin frame was muscled and toned, scars marring his chest and stomach. His biceps and abs flexed as he moved and Tifa quickly turned away, biting her lip. The last thing he needed right now was her practically drooling over him. Instead she turned her attention to Zack's interrogation.

Zack's low whispered sounded like vicious growls as he asked the man questions, occasionally getting a short answer out of him, otherwise staying reasonably silent which led to another blow to the face. By now the man's left eye was red and swollen, blood trickling from a burst lip and from what Tifa could see, several teeth had been knocked out. She was surprised he was still conscious, but was more amazed that he still refused to answer all Zack's questions. She heard Cloud step up behind her before he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Tifa," he spoke quietly, so only she could hear, "I'm going to have to press this guy hard. I need to know everything the Ballas have against us. But what Zack has been doing is light... it's not going to be nice to see. You can stay if you want. If not, you can take Aeris out to the corridor and keep watch."

Tifa didn't even have to think for her answer. She had been told when she joined with the Maria Racers that her life was no longer going to be a cake-walk and some things she endured and witnessed wouldn't be pleasant or agreeable. She knew what that consisted of.

"I'll stay. Just do what you need to."

Cloud lightly squeezed her shoulder before moving towards the captive. The man raised his head to look at Cloud and sneered.

"The infamous Spike. I can tell I'm going to get that special treatment if you're on the job."

Cloud stared blankly at him before slowly drawing his gun and laying it on a nearby desk. The man eyes it warily and took a deep breath, tensing himself for what was to come. Tifa stepped away from Aeris and into the man's view. She instantly regretted her choice as a look of stunned realisation crossed the man's battered features. Cloud looked back at her seriously before scowling at the Ballas.

"Don't bother looking shocked that your plans failed. You're not going to be alive long enough to tell your gang she's alive and well. But you will live long enough... to tell me, first off, why you targeted Lockhart and his next of kin."

The man scowled and laughed. "If you think you can make me talk from a beating then you're sadly mistaken. You're not getting any information from me, you pathetic prick."

Faster than Tifa could blink, Cloud pulled a retractable blade from his jacket and plunged the extended blade into the man's thigh. He screamed from the unexpected pain and lashed out at Cloud. His fist caught the side of Cloud's jaw, who quickly retaliated, knocking the man off his chair. As he crashed to the floor, Zack stood above him and pinned his arms to the floor. He instantly began to kick out with his good leg, before Cloud grabbed his ankle and drove his blade into his thigh again, twisting it before he pulled back. The man screamed even louder, so loud Tifa had to cover her ears.

She could barely watch. This was a vicious assault that she could never have imagined Cloud participating in. Years of fighting may have helped him develop a thick skin that, quite frankly, Tifa hoped she never developed. She didn't protest or leave, however. She'd chosen to stay and she would, Cloud had told her it wouldn't be pleasant.

The man began to quieten but he still gasped for breath. Cloud wiped the blood soaked knife on his jeans before retracting it and returning it to his jacket.

"I don't know why you're refusing to talk. You won't be leaving here alive and your silence is only prolonging how long and painful dying will be. If you talk, I give you my word that I'll make it quick."

His captive still refused to talk, shaking his head almost feverishly. He was still gasping from the pain, tears falling down his cheeks. Zack sighed, angry, and shook his head.

"Cloud, this is a waste of time."

Cloud growled furiously and turned away, breathing deep to keep his emotions in check. Tifa could feel his frustration at the limited time they had to do this. Tifa's shots had already attracted too much attention, the others had made certain that the building would soon be swarming with Ballas. The man's stalling was leaving them in a precarious situation, leave now, with certainty that they would escape, and miss an opportunity to gain valuable information, or interrogate their prisoner and risk being trapped.

Unfortunately, Tifa knew that Cloud would pursue the interrogation, even if it could get him killed.

Cloud was struggling. He knew he should leave. He was exposing Tifa to danger and Aeris would bleed to death if she didn't get help soon. But the information he was pressing for had to be important. It could very well save dozens of lives of the Maria Racers, or at least give them an insight to what the Ballas planned.

Giving into his anger, he snarled, "Enough of this bullshit."

He spun back round and grabbed his gun. Before anyone could move, he blasted two bullets into the prisoner, one in each shoulder. Zack fell back from the man in surprise, while he screamed far louder than before. The pain had to be overwhelming, even more so when Cloud stepped up to him and pressed his weight onto the man shoulder. Tifa could only stare as she watched the man scream and writhe in pain.

"Tell me what you know!" Cloud roared at him, sending a terrifying chill to Tifa's bones. The same chill she'd gotten when he had destroyed all of the Ballas without a single emotion to show for it. No regret, no anger, no sadness, nothing. Only his anger overwhelmed Tifa and she felt a strong desire to simply crawl from the room to escape.

The man whimpered before he spoke in a weak, tearful voice. He sounded almost pitiful, taking a deep, struggling breath between each sentence.

"Lockhart was a target because he had ways of helped the Maria Racers and the other gangs throughout San Andreas. We couldn't hit them with his backing. They were too strong. They tried to kill the girl because Lockhart's will would pass all the gangs defences to her. They both had to die for the plan to work."

"What plan? The Ballas are organising a large scale attack aren't they? When? What are they planning?"

"I don't know. We've not been informed yet. We just got told to get ready to see the Maria Racers die and end once and for all."

Cloud sneered before pressing even more pressure on the man's wound. He screamed again and sobbed. Tifa had never seen a more pitiful looking man.

"Please! Stop! That's all I know I swear! Just kill me, please!"

Cloud stepped back silently and turned to Zack.

"Zack, grab Aeris. Take her to Matt immediately, he'll know where to get her help."

Zack nodded, silently and moved to Aeris. After lifting her in a bridal fashion, he nodded to Tifa before leaving them. Tifa watched as Cloud silently faced the crippled and sobbing captive on the floor, before he, mercifully, fired a bullet between the man's eyes. Without even a glimpse toward her, Cloud walked past her and headed to his car outside.

Tifa shook as she stared at the broken frame on the floor. Her heart raced as she attempted to calm herself from experiencing the intensity of Cloud's anger. Hearing the engines of Zack and Cloud's cars she dashed to the stairs and ran down them to the exit. She knew it was inevitable, but she still hoped that she never had to see or hear that side of Cloud again.

* * *

Tifa awoke from an uneasy sleep. They're return to the villa had been a smooth one, and the exhaustion of the infiltration landed on her as soon as her head hit her pillow. However, despite her tired physical state, her mind was too active to let her settle. The fear of what was to come, what happened occurred, and the fact that one of the Ballas has recognised who she was, was a sign to her that sleep would not be easy for the next few days.

The revealing of the motives behind her fathers murder and the attempt on her life eased her mind. It was no longer a senseless attack to her. It was a scheme she had survived and was alive to get revenge for her father, and for the life that had been destroyed.

But strangely, she found the desire to return to her old life, to normality, diminished as each day passed. She'd been shot at, chased by police, almost strangled to death... and yet, she felt oddly at home with Cloud, Zack and Aeris. They'd welcomed her, protected her and, most of all, they trusted her. She would never be able to repay them for that.

Slipping on a robe that she had borrowed from Aeris, she made her way bare-foot through the carpeted hall to the living-room. She was very surprised to see Cloud, staring intensely at a computer screen, scrolling through, what looked like, the data they'd collected off the Ballas computers. He turned as she entered and gave her a soft smile. She returned it and watched as he turned back to the computer, tense, as he tried to avoid staring at her exposed legs. Tifa resisted the urge to grin, slightly flattered at the attention.

Tifa knew that there was a degree of sexual tension between them. He was very attractive and from some of his actions, she figured he felt the same about her. However, she'd never been the kind to commit to a relationship without a certain backbone to it. She knew that she cared for him, and thought he cared for her also. But she didn't want to push anything until she was sure they were ready for something. Hell, as far as she knew that "Rain" was his girlfriend or wife. She would wait until she was sure of things.

For the moment she moved behind him and hugged him, resting her head against his. He jumped slightly but relaxed, lightly stroking her arm round.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

Tifa sighed lightly, "Nope. I'm exhausted though. Anyway, how's Aeris doing?"

"She's stable. Some blood loss but she'll be fine. Matt took her to a medical centre at the other side of Los Santos. She's less likely to be in danger there."

"That's good to hear."

Cloud nodded before focusing, once again, on the information in from of him.

"You found any clue about what they're planning?" Tifa asked, hopeful.

Cloud shook his head and sighed. "Nothing. Not even a clue about who gave them our information. But from recent activity I can tell they'll be quiet for a while. A few days, a few weeks... I'm not sure. Then something big. And I doubt we'll be prepared for it. They're going to hit us hard and fast." He turned his head to look at her, his expression serious. But in his eyes Tifa saw... fear.

* * *

Well... was it worth the wait? Was it not? Do you feel like gutting me and tossing me to Hannibal? Well feel free to express this in the most imaginable way possible.

I've been working on this solidly for the last 3 days. Half of this was done over that time, at times with me just staring blankly at the screen. Inspiration came in chunks, as well as the ability to properly write it down. But I'm hoping this was up to standard cause I worked hard on it. Biggest chapter to date.

Right, anyway, when it comes to the ideas behind this story I'm not only working through my own. If you have an idea you want to be present, a mission from the game, or simply a character you wish to see, in this fanfiction or any of my others... message it to me, or check my homepage and leave a topic on the related board. I'm always looking for new ways to improve my fanfiction, bring in new ideas to expand them and keep them going for as long as I can without losing the storyline. So feel free to contribute, as it will be you who is reading it.

As for the next update, the next chapter could be a filler, another step in the plot-line, or a leap, depending on how easily ideas come to me. Until then...


End file.
